Insanity Runs in the Family
by fictionadict24
Summary: AU,post DH,pre epilogue. Ginny is entering her second year as Charms Profesor at Hogwarts when she literally runs into Harry, someone she hasn't seen in close to six years! See what happens when the two finally come face to face.
1. A Summary of Ginny's Life So Far

**A Summary of Ginny's Life So Far**

If it all had not happened to her, she would have never believed it to be true. She could never have imagined that one person's life could be so complex.

She had never considered herself a sane person. She had six equally crazy older brothers, a very over-protective mum, and a father who's fascinated with Muggle plugs and wiring. To top it all off, she had been possessed by one of the most evil wizards of the age and saved by the boy who vanquished him.

That boy was now a man and unfortunately, he was the reason she felt even more insane than she ever thought possible.

Who was this dastardly young man who drove her to the brink of absolute absurdity? Harry James Potter that is who. Yes the "Boy Who Lived" and now "The Man Who Conquered." Yes, Harry the Hottie, every young witch's dreamboat and fantasy date. Witch Weekly's Man of the Year, whose face unwillingly appeared in more newspaper and magazine articles than Gilderoy Lockhart.

Ginny had dated Harry for a few months at the end of her fifth year, his sixth. It was bliss. They laughed, joked, snogged like hippogriffs (why do they say that anyway, hippogriffs don't even have lips) well; regrettably, the end of that year brought a horrendous event, the death of the great Professor Albus Dumbledore.

Harry, being gallant and all that, feared for Ginny's safety and lamentably chose to end their budding relationship so that she would not be a target or used as a means of getting to him.

He then left with Ron and Hermione to go off on their quest to locate and destroy the last of the Horcruxes. Ginny saw Harry briefly over Bill and Fleur's wedding. Unfortunately, her mum kept them so busy that she barely had enough time to pull him aside and snog the daylights out of him. A birthday present she was hoping he would never forget.

She returned to Hogwarts for her sixth year without a boyfriend. She chose not to date. If she couldn't have Harry than she wanted no one else. Secretly her heart still belonged to him. Though she tried to hide it to the rest of the world, inside she was a wreck.

Her Mum was a total mess that entire year. One son was recently married, one was off playing with dragons, one had his head up his ass, two were trying to blow up everything in site with their new line products flying off the shelves of their joke shop and finally the last was off chasing dark wizards with his girlfriend and best mate. Ginny returned home as much as she could. It seemed with no children left in the nest Molly Weasley was determined to latch on like glue to her only daughter.

The end of that year brought the death of Voldemort and a whole bunch of Death Eaters. Unfortunately, because of the battle, Hogwarts was practically destroyed.

He wanted no parade or fan fare and granted no interviews. He simply sent Hedwig to the Minister of Magic giving him only the important details of the battle and told him not to seek him out for anything else. Harry had had enough. He was done.

What they didn't realize was to what extent he was done. Harry did what no one expected him to. He went to Gringotts and withdrew a fair amount of gold, transferred it to English pounds and said goodbye to the Wizarding world and enrolled in the Muggle Oxford University. He was tired of death and destruction and wanted a completely new life, and if he never used magic again, it was ok with him.

He sent the Weasleys a very nice letter thanking them for all of their love and support and let them know his plans. Much to their dismay Harry had transferred a good deal of gold into their account and asked them to settle any issues he may have left outstanding and to keep the rest for the family. He wanted to repay them for all that they had done and this was the only thing he was capable of at the time. He promised to contact them over Christmas each year as a way of keeping in touch.

He did however keep in close contact with Ron and Hermione, but no one else. He worked very hard trying to be a good student and just a regular Muggle. Hermione was very proud. Ron just wanted to know if they had a game like Quidditch. Harry had also hired the Magical Muggle Contracting Company to rebuild Goodrich Hollow. It would be a real Muggle house, with electricity and everything. Everyone soon realized that Harry was serious. He had sworn off the wizarding world for good.

When Ginny heard the news of Harry's departure from the wizarding world, she didn't leave her room for a week. Where was her letter? All she got was a note on the end of her parents' letter wishing her good luck with her last year at Hogwarts. She felt completely rejected. She had been waiting for him and he chose to barely acknowledge her existence.

Eventually she pulled herself out of her gloom and realized that she could face a world without Harry Potter. She started her seventh and final year at Hogwarts with a newfound purpose. Unbelievably and much to the joy of her parents she was named Head Girl, and again captain of the Quidditch team. She ended the year passing every one of her NEWTS with flying colors.

She then entered Wizarding College to study Advanced Charms and Education. She wanted to teach at Hogwarts. She was very skilled in charms and thought she would make and excellent teacher. Moreover, it was a sure way of getting out of her parents house and a Mum who was determined to marry her off to any one of her girlfriends' still eligible sons.

She had a great flat in London that she shared with her two girlfriends from college Meg and Hillary. Yes, she dated. Nothing serious though. She just didn't want to open her heart to anyone. She was even proposed to, twice. Her mum was thrilled, she just couldn't say yes.

Four years later, she graduated. At the ceremony, Headmistress McGonagall presented her with a letter offering her a position at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the new Charms Professor. She was in complete shock. She had accomplished what she had set out to do.

She moved into Hogwarts all excited. She was now the Charms Professor and would be taking over as Head of Gryffindor House.

Her first year was great. She loved the students and the faculty. She loved teaching. Her life was wonderful. She finally felt somewhat real again.

Boy, how that fell apart fast.

Up until this point, she was still somewhat sane, not completely, but nowhere near the raving lunatic she would become.

She returned to Hogwarts last July, a few months before the start of school. You know to get the upper hand, get re-acclimated, plan her lessons, decorate her classroom and office, fluff the quills, etc. etc. What she did not expect was what was going to be responsible for the start of her newfound insanity. She had no idea what trouble lied around the corner, literally.

Ginny was clumsily trying to maneuver some crates into her classroom, each filled to the rim with new books and supplies. She was levitating them around the corner when she suddenly heard a loud "UMPH!" then a very familiar "What the Bloody Hell!"

She recognized that voice underneath those crates. She closed her eyes_. "No, this can't be happening. Life could not be this cruel" _she thought.

She opened her eyes and rounded the corner. Sprawled on the floor in front of her was, the one and only, Harry James Potter.


	2. Hello Again

_AN: Thank you to my fantastic beta HarryLovesGinny1995. M - you are a beta goddess!_

_Disclaimer: (Because I forgot on chapter one. I don't own the Potter world. We have to thank the brilliant JKR for that. I'm just an obsessed fan.)_

_1/16/2008 - auther made some corrections._

**Hello Again**

"Bugger!" was the only word she could get out of her mouth.

"I could use some help here," he said from the floor, covered in the contents of the now spilled crates. Ginny levitated them off him and sent them straight to her classroom.

"Hello Harry," she said trying to use her most mature and sophisticated voice. She had not seen him in almost seven years and the shock alone was enough to kill her. As he stood, she literally had to hold onto the wall to keep composed. He was at least a good head taller than she was with broad shoulders and a solid build. Boy had the years been good to him.

She took a deep breath, she could do this. She could look unaffected. She was not going swoon over his amazing physique, stunning green eyes, and forever disheveled black hair that was just screaming to have her hands run through it….

"Ginny, I was just looking for you," he blurted out, completely shocked by her appearance from behind the crates.

Harry had not planned on meeting up with her just yet. He was not ready to face her. Though she was completely unawares, he had been keeping tabs on her over the past several years. Ron had shown him pictures and on a few occasions he had found himself dragging out his old invisibility cloak.

He needed time to compose himself, get everything just perfect. He was going to arrange to have her enter his classroom while he was teaching, she would not be able to help but notice how his eager students were hanging on his every word. He would look like the pillar of confidence. Not the bumbling idiot he felt like right now.

Being knocked to the floor by books was not his idea of a smooth reunion.

"You were?" she squeaked out. Cool and collected, she reminded herself, cool and collected.

"Yes," he said. "Ron told me that you were teaching here."

"Yes," she said, trying to straighten herself out to full height to look composed. "I am the Charms Professor." She paused for a second to think of something to say. _Anything would do_, she thought to herself, _just say something! _

"What are you doing here?" she asked. _He was looking for you, idiot, _she berated herself.

She then got the most unexpected answer.

"I am the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, I just moved in today."

She must have stood there for what seemed like a good five minutes, looking like a fool. Finally, she snapped out of it.

"You're what?" she asked in complete shock.

"Dark Arts, I am the new professor and I just moved in," he repeated.

Someone could have knocked her over with a quill. Life as she knew it was now over. She was done for. How could she possibly teach and look somewhat respectable now that Harry Potter had walked back into her life and was teaching in the next classroom?

McGonagall would fire her for sure. "Miss Weasley, I thought we hired a competent instructor, instead we have been presented with a babbling baboon."

_Sweet Merlin, I'm sunk! S_he thought to herself.

Somehow, she regained what little sense she was born with and politely excused herself with, "Well isn't that wonderful, congratulations. I am sure I will be seeing you around." Then quickly turned on her heel and walked directly to her classroom, locked the door and raided her desk for any and all chocolate it possessed.

This was serious. _No wimpy milk chocolate frog,_ she thought to herself as she tore her desk apart. _I need the hard stuff, a dark chocolate fudge filled bullfrog! _

She was going to kill Ron. _How could he not have warned me? _She thought as she sat back and bit the head off the bullfrog. _He knew I was starting back at Hogwarts this week. I am never going to forgive him for this. _ She busied herself trying to think of incriminating secrets to tell Hermione that would surely make Ron miserable for the rest of his life.

Somehow, she cleared her head enough to finish the task she had set out to do. Putting her supplies away, not torturing Ron, that could wait till later. She then peaked out her door, and hauled ass to her apartment in Gryffindor tower.

_I might as well say good-bye to my sweet apartment, s_he thought. _Surely, Harry would be named the new Head of House. How could I compete with him? _She thought as she flopped down into her beautiful overstuffed sofa and buried her head under a pillow.

_Forget about being Assistant Coach for Quidditch. Harry is a far better player than I am. The team will look at me, laugh, haul it to Harry's office, and beg him. That is, if he did not already have the job. McGonagall was probably just saving all this news up for one great big meeting. _

She managed to avoid Harry over the next week. She was a Weasley for goodness sakes! She could sneak around with the best of them. It was quite easy after a while. She took most of her meals in her apartment; amazingly, she had not yet been evicted.

Harry spent a lot of time in his new office and classroom as well as in the Quidditch Pitch. He was baffled. _Why is Ginny so obviously avoiding me_? He thought as he sat in his new office with his old Marauders Map splayed in front of him. He watched as Ginny paced back and forth in her apartment.

This was not how it was supposed to work out. He was supposed to be sweeping her off of her feet and professing his undying love for her as she blushed and melted into his embrace. They were not supposed to be playing cat and pixie around Hogwarts.

How could he tell her that he had been miserable since the day he said goodbye to her at Dumbledore's funeral.

Sure, he liked the new life he had tried to create. He had graduated from Oxford, traveled the world, built a new house, had a great car, and made some great new friends. Still, throughout all of this, a part of him still felt empty. 

Yes, he had dated. He even thought he might have been in love once. It did not turn out that great when his almost fiancé threw a fit about him not completely opening himself up to her. She had said that she constantly felt like she was competing with someone, though she knew he had always been faithful. In the end, she had told him to figure out who or what he really wanted in his life.

He had ended up doing just that, spending a week practically comatose on his sofa watching sports and downing pints. Finally, Hermione insisted that he go to Hogwarts and talk with her. Deep inside he knew what was missing from his life. It is amazing just how smart Hermione really is.

O O O

Ginny was almost a goner when Ron and Hermione decided to pay a visit.

They must have assumed she and Harry were getting along famously because they were actually expecting to have lunch with the both of them. Ginny managed to get out of it by feigning sick and only agreeing to meet for tea in her apartment. Ron chose to join up with Harry separately. Ginny knew if she yelled 'womanly problems' Ron would steer clear.

Hermione sat straight faced across the room from Ginny. "So why are you avoiding Harry? I thought you two would have settled this by now."

She was her most trusted friend, her sister-in-law. She had to tell her the truth.

"We're getting along fine," she lied. She then added, "he goes along his business, and I avoid him. It's real easy."

"Very funny Ginny," said Hermione crossly. At this, she started to get up from the sofa to walk around a bit. At three months pregnant with twins, she was already starting to get a little uncomfortable.

"Are you ok?" asked Ginny with a smile.

Hermione sighed, "I know that twins run in your family, but I never expected it to happen to me."

Ginny laughed as she took her hands to help her. "Well you did marry a Weasley, what did you expect?"

"Not this. If they are anything like Fred and George, I am done for," she said with a laugh.

"Just think," replied Ginny, "they could be like Fred and George with your brains. Then we are all done for."

"Don't say that!" moaned Hermione. Ginny could tell that no matter how Hermione complained she was happy. Amazingly, she and Ron were blissfully married. Everyone had decided that all that arguing was just sexual tension, go figure.

"Seriously Ginny, why are you avoiding Harry?"

"Look, it took me a long time to get over him when he left after the battle. Before that, I had always hoped he would come blazing home on his Firebolt to sweep me off my feet and we would live happily ever after."

After a brief pause she continued. "As you know, that did not happen. He took off and I fell apart. I felt hurt and abandoned. It took a while to get over that and I don't ever want to feel like that again."

The conversation was getting much too serious for Ginny's liking. "Plus it took me a year to get off the weight I had gained. Mum tried feeding my depression away and I ended up looking like a whale."

Hermione just frowned and looked down at her growing belly.

"Sorry, no offence," said Ginny trying to look guilty.

"Quite," said Hermione with a laugh as she sat back down. "Oh, Ginny don't be so melodramatic."

"Me!" she shot back. "Look who's talking."

"You know what I mean." Hermione tried not to laugh. "Seriously, the war was very difficult on Harry. Not even Ron and I know how many people he had to kill to get to Voldemort. I think he was afraid that it had turned him into someone he couldn't live with. He just needed some time to himself."

"Don't you think I got that? I was supposed to be the one to help him get through it!" exclaimed Ginny.

"So," replied Hermione.

"So what!" fumed Ginny!

"Did Harry ever promise you that he would come back?"

"No."

"Did he promise you that you would get back together after the war?"

"No."

"So," she said trying to get Ginny to admit it.

"I know, I know," said Ginny as she flopped back into her chair. "Harry obviously didn't read that page in the Ginny Weasley handbook."

"So, why hold it against him?" she said almost satisfactorily.

"I'm not, not really," said Ginny with a shrug. "Well, I guess I am."

Ginny stood up and headed to the door. "Come on prego; let's waddle down to the Quidditch Pitch."

Down at the pitch Harry and Ron were brilliantly battling it out. With Ron playing everyday as Keeper for the Chudley Cannons and Harry not playing as much, for the first time ever, Ron was seriously kicking Harry's but.

Ron saw them so he swooped down to say hello. Harry thought he had spotted the snitch, so he sped past him. Unfortunately, the wake from his fly by ended up knocking Ginny off her feet and ass first into the sand.

Luckily, Hermione was a few paces behind and didn't feel the effects of the fly by.

Ron came running over to help Ginny up, of course laughing hysterically. "Are you bloody well ok?"

"Yes, thank you. What the hell was that about?"

"He probably thought I had the snitch. So you decided to come out of hiding?"

Ginny then punched him in the gut as hard as she could, her unexpected blow knocking him to the ground.

"Bloody Hell, what was that for?" he shrieked.

"Thanks for filling me in about the new teacher," she fumed.

"He made me promise, you crazy shrew," said Ron now wincing in pain.

"I did," said Harry as he landed beside Ron and helped him up.

"Oh," said Ginny feeling her face flush. _Damn that windswept hair of his_.

"Nice to see you again Harry," she croaked out.

"Nice to see you too Ginny," he said in the most amazingly rugged way that Ginny almost swooned.

Ron and Hermione looked as if they were watching a tennis match. Hermione spoke up, "Ron, let's go over and see if that thing is still over there," she said as she grabbed his arm and walked toward the other end of the pitch.

"So, Ginny," he said now feeling awkward.

"So, Harry," she replied just as awkward as he was.

"Do you like teaching charms?"

"Yah, it's real nice." She closed her eyes then opened them again. _Yup, still gorgeous_, she thought. She had to do something quick or she was done for.

"Well, I gotta' go," she said as she turned on her heel and walked briskly up the hill straight to her apartment and locked the door.

Later that day Ron and Hermione came by to visit, luckily without Harry.

"You are daft, you know that," said Ron.

"Gee thanks," said Ginny.

"Why did you run off so quickly?" asked Hermione.

"I'm just not comfortable around him anymore. To tell you the truth, I liked it better when he was away. Now every time I turn around, there he is. I don't know how to act around him. Things are so different."

"Well, you two better figure this out soon because you are both driving me barking mad," said Ron with a grumble.

"And that's not too far of a trip right, love?" asked Hermione with a smile trying to lighten the mood.

"Hey you married into this crazy family. I had no choice," he said as he bent down and gave her a kiss.

"Does that make me just as crazy or crazier?" she asked.

"Crazier I think," supplied Ginny.

They left a little while later. Hermione was getting tired and needed to rest.

Ginny was now determined that she would never act like an idiot around Harry again. She knew just what she needed to do to get her mind off him.


	3. It's a Small World After All

**AN: Thanks to my beta, HarryLovesGinny1995, she's the best.**

**It's a Small World After All**

Ginny pulled out her wizard phone--_gotta love these new hybrid products. Someone came up with the great idea to modify Muggle cell phones!_ _However, some people refused to use them, mainly __her mum--_ and called her flat mates. She had been meaning to catch up with them anyway.

Later that evening Ginny found herself in Muggle London at a pub she used to frequent.

She had to admit, she had dressed for the occasion. She thought she just needed a little reassurance that some men still found her attractive. So on went the full face of make-up and she magic-ed a bit of a wave into her dark auburn hair. She dug out of her wardrobe an outfit that she had bought for just these occasions. It was an incredibly short black skirt with a matching top. A bit clingy and had a serious scoop neckline. She wore her favorite silver linked belt low on her hips. She had just gotten a pedicure so she decided to wear strappy black sandals to show off the red polish. Simple silver jewelry – nothing too showy, the outfit spoke for itself.

She didn't wear the outfit that much, being a 5'10" redhead drew enough attention as it was.

Well it had gotten the desired effect. She hadn't bought herself a drink all evening. She hated to admit it, but she loved the attention.

As she was sitting at a table with Meg and Hillary, Meg pointed over to a group of guys staring at them. Ginny glanced casually over, _very cute,_ she thought. She did her little hair flip and smiled at one of them. He got up from his seat and came over.

"Hi, I'm Chet, do you ladies want to come over and join my group of friends over there. We are about to start playing pool. We could use a few more players to make it interesting."

Ginny looked at her friends, they each smiled. "Sure," she said. "I'm Ginny; these are my friends Meg and Hillary."

"Nice to meet you," said Chet as he shook each of their hands, lingering a bit on Ginny's.

He escorted them over to his table. "Guys, I'd like you to meet some new friends who fancy a game of pool. This is Meg, Hillary, and Ginny. Ladies, let me introduce you to the biggest bunch of slouches in the pub. This is John, Bill, Tom his beautiful wife Beth, Nate, and the lovely Lola."

At this, he steered Meg and Hill toward Bill and John, then took Ginny's hand and led her over to the pool tables. "I am so glad you decided to join us, other wise I would have paired up with one of those two losers and that wouldn't have been much fun. Do you know how to play?"

"I have six older brothers," she said with a grin.

"Brilliant!" he said with a big smile.

As the games progressed and the beer flowed steadily, it was proving to be an all around fun night. Ginny had let Chet "show" her some moves at the table and was having fun playing the girly damsel. He was cute, worked in London, and had great friends. Things were looking up!

That was until Chet and Ginny were at the pool table and she had to reach for a shot, he was leaning very close with his arms around her "helping" her to get the right angle.

Bill suddenly called out "Hey look who made it back. Hey mate, did Liza get home ok?"

Then Steve piped in teasing, "Yah, did you help her feel better?"

Ginny wasn't watching so it wasn't until he spoke when it hit her. "Shut it ya gits, that ended ages ago. I was just helping out a friend."

Bill then added, "That's not the way Liza was acting earlier with her tongue in your ear."

_It couldn't be him_, thought Ginny in disbelief.

"Aren't we gallant Potter!" added Tom.

At this Ginny slammed the cue-stick into the ball, sending three of them dramatically around the table, nailing the shot.

She stood up and backed right up into Chet, who took this opportunity to spin her around, hug her, feel her ass, and plant a big kiss smack on her lips.

When she was released, still trying not to make a big deal of it, she looked over to the new arrival. There in his hottie glory was Harry Bloody Potter. Ginny could have died. When she backed up a bit to the table Chet saw this as a sign to sit her in his lap, well he was occupying the chair she was going for. She just didn't know he was in it.

Was that a look of anger in Harry's eyes? _Nah, probably just because of the comment about his girlfriend._ Girlfriend!! At this thought, she turned and put her arm around Chet. _There is nothing between us._ Hermione had reminded her of that. _Bugger!!_ Why didn't she take it seriously before? Hermione was trying to let her know in her nice way, that Ginny shouldn't concern herself with Harry. Harry didn't come back to Hogwarts to get back together with her. He didn't think of her that way anymore.

Ginny looked over at Meg and Hillary, both had incredibly wide eyes. They had heard her moan about Harry enough to realize that this was completely freaking her out.

Harry slowly walked over to them.

Chet made the introductions. "Harry, this is Ginny, Meg, and Hillary."

Harry smiled "Hi Meg, Hillary very nice to meet you." He looked over at Ginny and said icily, "nice to see you again Ginny."

Chet smiled, "do you two know each other?"

Harry spoke up first. "Ginny is Ron's little sister," he said a bit too smugly.

She then added, for good measure, and because she also wanted to erase the image of herself in pigtails, "I also work with Harry. We're both teachers."

"Bloody Hell, you work, Harry?" laughed Chet, "I thought you just studied and traveled around the world for fun."

"Yes, you prat, I work. Ginny and I teach at Chesterbrook Academy."

"Is that the private school where you have to be a Royal to get in?"

"Not quite," laughed Harry, "but yah, they do make it pretty tough."

"Wow, what do you teach?" asked Chet.

Harry and Ginny looked at each other in question, both trying to think fast.

Ginny quickly added, "I teach English and Woman's Studies and Harry teaches Philosophy and Self Defense."

She smiled, proud of herself, she didn't lie, really. She had found out from Hermione that Harry had studied Philosophy at Oxford and "Defense" was technically a self-defense course. She was also going to be teaching a new Woman's Studies course "Great Witches from our History and Today" and English, well that was her favorite subject in college.

"Wow," said Chet. He then turned to Harry, "How is Liza doing?" he asked.

Harry glared at Chet. "Fine I guess, she passed out in the taxi and I just dropped her on her sofa and left."

"Sure," answered Chet with a smirk.

The rest of the evening was spent playing pool and drinking, way too much. Chet and Ginny exchanged numbers. He was a nice guy, even a good kisser. She actually wanted to see him again.

Harry obviously could care less, so why the hell not. After all she was just Ron's little sister and a fellow teacher. She was sure if he cared, he would have mentioned her to his friends before, or acted differently when he saw her with Chet. Hell, he could have given her any number of clues by now. Least of all, he wouldn't have waited almost seven years to talk to her again.

Chet had made his intentions obvious when he started seriously snogging Ginny in front of everyone right after they had won a game. When she had looked over at Harry afterwards, he was just sitting at the table, watching the cricket match, and drinking his beer.

O O O

The next few days were busy getting ready for the students. Ginny was really looking forward to seeing them all again. At this point, she would have taken a potions class with Snape just to get her mind off Harry. Anything was a welcome distraction.

Otherwise, things were going great. She was ready for the new school year, had a potential new boyfriend, and Hermione was having twins. What could go wrong? Right?

She should have learned never to ask yourself that question; Murphy's Law will always come back and bite you in the ass.

The school year started with a bang. At the sorting another Malfoy appeared, a cousin of some sort. The boy still had the white hair and rat-like face. They must all be inbred, all caught up in the "pure family" business.

Then much to her dismay, some of the more rambunctious sixth years set off some fireworks in the Great Hall foyer. Of course, they were Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Filch (how old is that guy anyway?) had a field day spouting off about the Weasley brothers being Satan's Spawns and his lack of ability to sleep since their newest shop opened in Hogsmeade.

After everyone was tucked safely into bed, Ginny set out to do one last patrol. While walking she heard noises from one of the classrooms.

Peeking in, she found Harry still working on getting his room ready for the next day.

"Good evening Professor Potter," she said with a grin. "I would think you would have every thing ready by now, we have been here for a few months."

"Just nervous I guess, first year teaching and all."

For some reason she didn't feel like she was going to pass out, so she actually decided to talk to him.

"You'll do fine," she took a deep breath. "You taught us all in the DA, and that worked out great."

"Yah, but this is different. You were all my friends and classmates. No expectations, ya know."

She was about to just smile and excuse herself when he spoke again.

"Gin, wait."

She turned back around. "Did you need something Harry?" she asked. She really hadn't planned on staying. She wasn't _that_ comfortable around him. A sentence or two she could manage. A whole conversation was out of the question.

"Have a seat," he said as he motioned to a desk. After a brief pause, he spoke up "You know I really do wish we could be friends again. I don't like knowing you are mad at me. To tell you the truth, I can't figure out why you are mad at me in the first place. I keep and asking Ron and Hermione, but they just tell me to figure it out or to ask you."

She sat there, mouth gaping. "You have _got_ to be kidding me?" she said a bit more sarcastically than she had intended.

"What did I do? Why are you so mad at me?" He just stood there, looking utterly confused and adorable.

_Bugger, I'm done for_, she thought.

Then suddenly, she gained her composure. She was not going to be a babbling idiot. She knew just what to say to him. Why should she be walking around like some crushed little school girl, hiding around corners. She was a twenty three year old witch, an _attractive_ twenty three year old witch. She has a boyfriend bloody throwing himself at her. She had a successful teaching career and tons of friends.

"YOU NEVER CAME BACK TO ME, YOU GIT!" she yelled.

His eyes grew wide. "But…" he tried to speak but she cut him off.

"Don't worry, I am long over it. I've moved on," she said with a little more control. Then staring him right in the eye she reminded him, "Just like you did."

Then she finally realized, "I guess we both grew up Harry."

"But I never….," he tried to speak again.

Again, she interrupted him "I said don't worry. I know you never promised me anything." She took a deep breath and sighed. "I am over you Harry." She then got up to leave, but thought once more.

"You know what, just give me some time; we just might be friends after all."

She felt amazingly better, liberated in fact. She had figured it out. Her obsession with the great Harry James Potter was over.

She went to bed that night feeling like a new woman. She even called Chet and made a date for the weekend. Life suddenly didn't look as grim as it had just hours before.


	4. Friends?

Over the next few months, dealing with Harry got much easier. Ginny had finally, truly, moved on. It had taken seeing Harry again and getting her frustration out at him, for her to really feel free.

Life was fabulous. Both her classes were great, but her real joy was Woman's Studies. It was a huge success. She kept it a very informal class. They sat in a circle, had guest speakers, and went on field trips. She even had a few boys in her class. Probably hopping for an easy 'O' but they were actually learning something.

Harry seemed to be fairing well. Though each time Ginny saw him he had this hurt look on his face, as if she had just broken his Firebolt or something. Not noticeable to the average person, but they didn't know Harry the way she did. She tried, on a daily basis, to forget just how well she had known Professor Potter. Their snogging sessions back in her fifth year were quite intense.

_I wonder if he still …_ "Bugger there I go again," she said aloud, chastising herself for thinking of him that way. She pushed her feelings for him further out of her mind, once again, extinguishing that flicker of emotion that surfaced when he was around.

Harry had come to breakfast looking especially handsome. Ginny had found herself staring into her tea, recalling some of the more fabulous details she knew about him.

She had to admit, she still thought that he was gorgeous. He really was the most handsome man she knew.

She was not the only one who noticed his good looks. There constantly seemed to be a flock of lovesick little witches following him around, whispering and giggling at his every move.

Valentines Day was particularly interesting for Professor Potter. Being the youngest and most attractive Professor in school had its challenges.

He must have set the record for the most cupids to follow one person. There were about twenty of them swarming him all morning, trying to bean him with their little golden arrows. He must have used a defensive shield charm because the arrows just kept on bouncing off.

Ginny couldn't help it. At lunch, she let out a snicker each time she turned and looked at him. He did not look happy.

"Uh, Professor Potter?" she asked, unsuccessfully hiding a chuckle.

"Yes, Professor Weasley," he said, through clenched teeth.

"I think you have a problem," she said, now bursting out with laughter as she pointed above him.

He looked up. "Bloody Hell!" he shouted.

"Professor Potter!" scolded Headmistress McGonagall. "I will kindly ask you to watch your tongue while around the students!"

Harry pointed to the two scuffling cherubs above his head. They must have had some cross words with each other, because one had the other in a Half Nelson and its face was now turning purple. The other cherubs were circling around, goading them on. Harry pushed away from the table and excused himself from lunch.

As soon as he left the room, a loud 'ZAP' was heard echoing down the hallway. This was followed by a flurry of high-pitched obscenities, all coming from his miniature entourage.

As expected, Professor Potter was cupid free for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

When Ginny arrived back to her apartment to get ready for her date with Chet, she found a huge bouquet of daisies, a crystal dish filled with pink and white M&M's sitting on her desk.

OK, she thought, her entire family knew that she loved daisies, as well as her obsession over the chocolate muggle sweet. But, she didn't think any of them would go as far as to put them in a crystal dish.

Fred and George had already sent her their customary Valentine assortment of love potions and enhancers. They were currently making a mint off of a Wizarding version of the muggle Viagra pill. They called it "The Dionysus Pill." George was amazed at what just some fancy packaging could do for a product that had been around for thousands of years. It was not a new potion, by any means. It was now just condensed into a fancy little tablet.

They had even begun a discreet mail order business under the "Dionysus Institute." It kept them so busy, that they had to set up an employee at their main warehouse. The wizards' sole purpose was to fulfill those orders. It was turning quite the handsome profit.

So Fred and George had sent her a gift, and that was all she expected. She and Chet were meeting for dinner in an hour, so the gifts were probably not from him. Unless of course, he had asked Harry what she liked and had him deliver it.

The curiosity was killing her. She had a few minutes before she had to floo over to her flat in London, so she went and knocked on Harry's door.

When he opened the door, he was wearing shorts, no shirt, and dripping sweat.

Ginny quickly reminded herself to continue breathing.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

"Brilliant, just brilliant," he said, with a big smile, then realized what she meant. "Oh, you mean, why do I look a mess? Oh, I was just working out," he pointed over to his weight set and treadmill.

Ginny tried not to let him get to her. But bloody hell, she was a witch. Her eyes practically popped out of her head and her libido went into overdrive.

She shook her head to clear it. "Did you make a delivery for Chet to my apartment?" It all came out in one big breath.

He looked at her funny then his eyes clouded over. "No," he almost shouted. "I certainly did not. Is that why you look so stunning? Have a big date with him do you?" he said, with obvious contempt.

"As a matter of fact, yes I do!" she yelled back at him. "He's taking me out for a late supper, to a very nice restaurant!"

They stared at each other for just a few seconds, breathing heavy and seething with, well something. You could feel the electricity in the air. Ginny was either going to jump him or hex him to blazes.

Instead she chose to compose herself, amazing isn't it?

"Thank you. That was all I needed to know, goodnight Professor Potter" she fumed, flipped her hair at him, and stormed away. As she left, he practically slammed his door off its hinges. She stopped for a second. She could now hear his treadmill going at full speed and his Wizarding Wireless blare out.

He couldn't have sent it. Could he?

She went back to her apartment and flooed over to her flat in London. Hillary and Meg were still there, getting ready for their dates with, you guessed it, her brothers.

"Are you both sure you want to go out with those two gits?" she asked in a last ditch effort to dissuade them from getting further involved with the terrible two. "They really are horrid you know. They have made my life a living hell for as long as I can remember. Most of my mum's grey hair is as a result of those two."

They both just looked at her and smiled. Hillary spoke up first. "Gin, they act much differently around us. They are sweet and romantic and …."

"Enough, enough," interrupted Ginny. "Too much information already, just remember I gave you both fair warning. You both look fabulous by the way. Isn't that my skirt?"

Meg just laughed, "Yep, you left it here, that makes it fair game remember."

"Don't worry, it looks better on you," she laughed.

At the stroke of 8:00 the doorbell rang.

"Well that certainly isn't my brothers. I don't think they have ever been on time for anything in their lives. And if you tell me differently I will be totally convinced you are both dating my brothers' much nicer doubles."

Ginny answered the door

A bouquet of pink roses greeted her. "Hello?" she asked the roses.

The roses were lowered to reveal a very handsome Chet, wearing a sharply cut charcoal suit. He looked very yummy!

He leaned over and planted a kiss on her very surprised face.

"Be my Valentine?" he asked with a sly grin.

"How could any sane woman refuse such a delicious offer," she gave him a peck on the lips then moved aside to let him in.

She took the roses, they smelled divine. She was just about to go and put them in a vase when Chet stopped her.

"I am very sorry my dear Ginevra, but these roses do you no justice. How could they compare to such beauty."

She gave him a slight smack on the arm. "You are quite the charmer, Mr. Whitney. Are you sure you didn't major in "How to become Prince Charming" at Oxford and not Economics."

"Didn't I tell you that all Oxford Men must be able to charm the fairest ladies before they let us graduate?" He gave her a twirl and took the roses so that he could put them in a vase himself. "It would be a crime for you to mess up such a sexy dress before I get the opportunity to show you off to the world."

Hillary and Meg just stood there and sighed. "Sorry girls, he's taken. And I am sure they broke the mold. It's your foolish choice to be dating my git brothers."

Just then the doorbell rang again. _Oh, shit_, thought Ginny. She hadn't planned on letting the terrible two meet Chet yet. Hopefully, they remember the part about him not being a wizard.

Ginny watched as Meg opened the door just a crack and whispered something to the person on the other side. Suddenly, the door was pushed aside.

"Well, well, well, it's about time that our little sister introduced us to her latest victim." They said in unison, as they walked directly over to Chet to shake his hand and size him up.

Ginny held her breath; this had disaster written all over it.

"Hello, I'm Fred"

"And I'm George"

Then in unison again, "We're Ginny's older and wiser brothers."

"Hello, I'm Chet Whitney, it's a pleasure." He then looked over to Ginny. Her brothers could be quite intimidating. They had a nasty habit of swarming and humiliating her boyfriends. Luckily they could not use magic on this one. She didn't have to worry about his head turning purple, or sprouting horns.

She quickly grabbed her wrap and Chet's arm. "Great, now we all know each other. Chet let's get going, we don't want to be late for our reservation. I am sure they would give our table away at the drop of a hat."

Unfortunately Chet, being the wonderfully social person that he is, opened his mouth again. "So Ginny tells me you own a shop in London."

Ginny put her head in her hands and sighed. Here it comes. Why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut, she thought he was smarter than this.

George spoke up first. "As a matter of fact we own three."

"What kind?" asked Chet?

"Novelties, of the most ingenious nature" smiled Fred.

Ginny could tell Chet was trying to make polite conversation. Any more questions thought, and it was bound to get ugly.

"Chet, you don't want to hear about it. They really do sell the most ghastly things. Childish prankster type stuff, you know, the type of things young school boys annoy their teachers with."

"Yes, and we give all of Ginny's student's preferred customer discounts."

Chet tried to continue the conversation, but Ginny handed him his coat and had him out the door.

"Ginny, I really did want to talk to your brothers, they seemed like nice mates."

As Chet was talking, Ginny heard a grand explosion coming from her apartment and her girlfriends shriek with delight. She could only imagine what the two had cooked up as a surprise. She was just glad they had the sense to wait until she and Chet were gone.

At dinner Chet was trying to be witty and charming, but Ginny could tell that something was bothering him.

"Chet what is it, you seem a bit distracted," she asked.

"If you must know, I am a bit disappointed. You always want to keep your family a secret. You never talk about them. All I know is that your mum stays home and is a fantastic cook and your Dad is some type of Investigator."

She looked at him, he looked hurt, "Ok, what do you want to know?"

"Anything," he said with a heavy sigh.

"Are you upset about what happened back at my flat?" she asked.

"Your brothers seemed harmless to me," he replied, a bit hurt.

"Huh, consider yourself saved. Each of my brothers has a renowned history of torturing my boyfriends. The Terrible Two are the worst. They have an entire arsenal of supplies at their disposal. It's best that you meet them in small doses."

He still looked disappointed.

"I'll make a deal with you. If you don't pressure me about it, I will make sure you get to meet every last one of them. Well except for Percy – he's sort of excommunicated himself. He's the one who has to screen his mail nowadays.

"What do you mean by, screen his mail," he asked.

"Well, let's just say, that the twins' care packages to him have a tendency to explode."

"Your brothers sure are characters," he said with a chuckle.

"Yah, characters, that's putting it mildly."

"So what do your other brothers do?"

"Well Bill is in banking. He's the one who is recently married. His wife Fleur takes a bit of time to get used to. She is one of those absolute beauties, who know it. But you can't help but like her after a while. She really does love my brother something fierce. Charlie, well he works in Romania with exotic animals. Kind of a rebel, my mum is dying to cut off his ponytail. You should see the two of them go at it. You already know about Percy, he has his head up some politician's ass. He's sort of an assistant, I have no idea really. You've just met the twins and as you know, they own novelty shops.

And I believe Harry introduced you to my youngest brother Ron."

"Yes, he plays sports of some type right?"

"Yes, and he is married to my best friend Hermione, she's expecting twins."

"She is also one of Harry's best friends, right?" at this Chet looked questioningly at her.

She grimaced, "You have another question, and I know I am not going to like it."

"Now about Harry, why do I suspect there is something missing here?"

Ginny took a deep breath, "We dated in school."

"Was it serious?" he asked, a bit concerned.

"Can I not answer that question? All you need to know, is that it was years ago and it is long over. He's like an adopted member of my family. My parents knew his parents and we've sort of taken him in as the seventh son."

"But you do work with him?"

"Yes, and it is a very large school. I hardly see him. Anyway, he is more like a protective big brother to me now." She looked curiously at him. "Are you jealous?"

"Look, at Oxford, Potter had had the female population throwing themselves at him. The rest of us, felt like a second choice most of the time. Not that we didn't score, mind you! It's just that, he's good looking, wealthy, a great athlete, and a fun guy. Hell, he probably had some of the men looking at him too." He then tried to recover himself. "I mean…."

"Don't worry your masculinity is safe with me," smiled Ginny reassuringly.

"Just sometimes, the way he looks at you and then at me, I get a sinking feeling that he's plotting my death or something."

"Like I said, he's like an overprotective big brother now. There is nothing to worry about. Why don't we just avoid him? I have no problem with spending more time alone and away from our group of friends." She looked at him with a sly little smile, hoping he would get her drift.

"Oh," he said, and then smiled wickedly. "I think I could be very happy with that." He reached over, took her hand, and started lightly rubbing it between his own and then kissed it.

They had a wonderful dinner and walk afterwards. They then went back to Chet's flat for some of that alone time.

Things started getting pretty heated. They were in front of his fireplace, drinking fantastic wine and snogging like mad.

Suddenly, Ginny realized that the zipper to her dress was half way down.

She couldn't help but stiffen a bit.

"Are we ok?" he asked.

"Yes, it's just, well I'm just not ready to take that next step yet, ok."

He looked at her, smiled, and gave her a kiss on the nose. "Can I ask you something?" he said as he tenderly stroked her bare back.

She nodded her head.

"Are you waiting?"

She looked funny at him.

"I mean are you saving yourself."

She smiled, a bit relieved, "I hope you don't mind? I mean, I hope this doesn't change things between us."

"Actually, it doesn't." He looked genuine. "I respect that. There is no reason to rush anything now anyway."

"Really?" she asked, kind of surprised.

He gave her this mischievous look, "I just hope, that it doesn't mean we can't enjoy each other in more creative ways." He kissed her again. "Does it?"

He had such an "Oliver-esque" quality about him that she couldn't help but grin. "Not at all, as long as you realize, that no matter how close we get. Well, I hope you respect me enough to stop when I ask you to."

"My fair Ginevra, I promise I will only go as far as you allow. I will always respect your wishes."

"Good, because I took self defense in college and I would hate to have to hurt you," she giggled.

"Oh really," he said, then leaned her back against the pillows and kissed her.

Chet proved himself to his word and was the perfect gentleman. Well not a complete gentleman… they did have some fun.

It had been a wonderful evening. Ginny hadn't shared that much of herself in a long time. She even caught herself getting carried away. They certainly did push the envelope. She considered herself lucky that Chet was good to his word. If he had pushed just a little bit, she would have woken up a much different person.

She returned to her flat around breakfast the next morning wearing a pair of his sweat pants and one of his Oxford sweatshirts. She wanted to shower and change before they met for lunch.

Meg was at the kitchen table waiting for the kettle. She had two cups ready in front of it.

"Is that for Hillary?" She asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

She just looked dreamily at her and smiled. "No" was her only response. As the kettle boiled, she poured, grabbed some pasties, and went back to her room.

YUCK. That meant that George was here still. In her bed no less. She wondered if Hillary and Fred were here. Hopefully, they were over at the boys flat. She really didn't want to find out.

She went to her room and grabbed a shower. As she was getting herself a cup of tea the doorbell rang.

Another delivery and it was more daisies. She looked at the card. They were for her. The note simply read "Friends?" Oh bugger, her life was confusing.

So the others were from him. Friends? Well maybe. She really should start looking at him as more of an older brother, a very handsome one, but an older brother nonetheless. If he had any other intentions, She was sure he would have made them clear long before now. He really is a nice guy. Good friend, lot's of fun, practically a member of her family.

She grabbed our owl, Misty, and sent him back a note.

_Harry,_

_Thank you for the flowers. Sorry about the confusion yesterday. Yes I think we might be able to be friends. _

_Ginny_

_p.s. Please stop giving my boyfriend threatening looks. Remember there are six brothers ahead of you waiting for their chance to interrogate him. _

_AN: (Dionysus is the Greek God of Sex, Wine, and Intoxication.)_


	5. Confusion and Plans

After he had reread the note for the third time Harry decided to floo over to Ron and Hermione's.

"What do you think?" he asked her, as he sat down with a beer. It was noon, and he needed something stronger than pumpkin juice to get him through this.

"I think she wants to be your friend," said Hermione, as she handed him a sandwich.

"Friends! After everything we meant to each other! Friends! How could she go out with Chet, of all people? He's one of my best mates from Oxford. Bugger, we've talked about women we've dated before. I don't think I could handle seeing him with Ginny with the things I know about him."

"Is he bad to women?" asked Hermione truly concerned.

"No, he's not. He's a great guy. I wouldn't hang out with him otherwise. It's just that I know what he's going to want to do with her. I just don't think I can take that. Hell, I never had the chance to do any of that with her…"

"HARRY!" yelled Ron. "Too much information mate! Watch it or I will never let you near her myself."

"Dammit Ron, you know what I mean."

"Yah, that's my point."

Hermione just looked at Ron. "Honey, why don't you run out and get the paper from the lawn? We'll meet you in a few minutes downstairs in the game-room. Let me talk to Harry about this, ok?"

With this, she kissed Ron on the cheek and ushered him outside. She went over and sat down next to Harry.

"Do you still love Ginny?" she asked. Harry tried to protest. "Truthfully, Harry. Do you still love her?"

He nodded his head. "Madly," he said in defeat.

"Well, you've pretty much made a mess of things haven't you, Harry."

He looked hurt.

"Look, don't get me wrong. I think you two are perfect for each other. I always have. It's just that, for years I have been convincing Ginny to go on with her life. She secretly carried a torch for you for some time. With the way you were behaving, I didn't think you would ever return to the wizarding world. I didn't think she had anything left to hang on to. Now finally you have decided to enter back into her life. Not only that, but now she is dating one of your mates from university. You can't blame her, Harry. You never did promise her anything or even asked her to wait for you. You left without a word to her. She was hoping to be the one to help you through all of your troubles after the war. You basically told her to move on yourself."

Harry sighed and sunk lower into the sofa. "But I want her back now. I can't imagine my life without her. I tried to be happy with other people. But, in the end, I just always wanted them to be her."

Hermione looked seriously at him. "When you saw her again, did you give her any signs that you wanted her back?"

"Not really. We were so awkward around each other. I could barely get her to stay in the same room with me for more than ten minutes. Then the other night when I asked her why she was mad at me, she practically hexed me. I was lucky to get out of it alive. She's so angry with me."

"Unfortunately, just when you have finally come to realize that you can't live without her, she's decided that she is tired of waiting for you. You can't blame her for wanting to be happy Harry. She was miserable for so long."

"What should I do Hermione?" he asked as he slumped down and put his head on her shoulder.

She reached over and patted his cheek. "Be her friend. Gain her trust back. If it is really meant to be, then it will work out. Ok?"

"Ok," he grumbled, not really wanting to. He was acting like a spoiled child that wanted someone else's toy. The sad thing was that he realized this, he just couldn't help himself.

She looked at him and grinned. "You know, a little healthy competition never hurt. Maybe if you showed her what she was missing, she might come around."

"Are you saying I should date?" he asked quite puzzled.

"I am not only saying you should date. I think you should make sure she sees you out on those dates. Nothing peaks a woman's interest than a little bit of competition. If I'm not mistaken, our Ginny loves a challenge."

Harry smiled. Suddenly things didn't look so lost. He helped Hermione up and headed downstairs to beat Ron at a game of pool. Maybe he could get one of his mates to fix him up with someone."

O O O

For not having seen Harry at all for the past seven years, it seemed like it was now impossible to avoid him.

Over the next few months, each time Ginny went out, Harry showed up. Any time she was out with Chet, Harry almost always showed up. She could have sworn he was following her.

Chet was sure that it was all innocent. He and Harry had always hung out at the same places. He was now truly convinced that Harry saw Ginny as a little sister.

"He asked me to fix him up with someone Ginny," he said one night over dinner. "I even mentioned us, and he said he was perfectly fine with it. He did warn me about your brothers though. Man, you weren't kidding when you said they were rough."

"You talked about us!" she yelled a bit louder than she had intended. She lowered her voice. "How could you?"

"It was fine. We were just sitting around at Bill's house and we started talking. He asked me if I was still seeing you and he wanted to make sure that my intentions were good. He said that if I screwed with you, your brothers--and him mind you--would hunt me down and make my life a living hell. After that, he wanted to know if I knew anyone interested in him and could I set him up."

Ginny shook her head in confusion. She heard Chet whisper, "Speak of the devil."

He waved him over. She tried to stop him, but it was too late.

"Harry! Mate, over here. Join us won't you."

Harry and his latest, who was clinging to him like her life depended on it, met them over at their table. Chet grabbed another chair for them to sit down.

"Melinda, these are two very old friends of mine Chet and Ginny." It sounded so natural, like she and Chet had been a couple for years. _Was she really becoming the other half of "Chet and Ginny" the permanent couple?_

Melinda looked to be about 21, beautiful and all smiles. Looking like she was the luckiest person in the world.

Ginny nonchalantly eyed Harry up and down. He was looking quite handsome in his jeans, oxford and sport coat. _Were those cowboy boots? Must have been Melinda's doing. My Harry would never wear cowboy boots. MY HARRY! What am I thinking, _she berated herself. She really needed another glass of wine.

Suddenly Ginny found herself out on group dates. John and his new girlfriend Jennifer, Bill and his latest Emily, Tom and Beth, Nate and Lola and finally Harry and whichever beauty he had picked up. It was never the same one more than twice. Women just seemed to want to throw themselves at him.

Each new girl hung blissfully onto his arm, hoping they would be the next Mrs. Potter. You could tell just by looking at them. So desperately trying to be everything he wanted. Laughing at all of his lame jokes (ok, she had heard most of them, they weren't that funny) agreeing to everything he said like he was everything they always wanted a man to be.

Ginny wasn't jealous, was she?

She had Chet. He was a great guy, great kisser. They were having the time of their lives going to movies, dinner, dancing, and shows. You name it, whatever she wanted.

Ginny had thought that if he wasn't a Muggle, they could get serious. Then she realized that it really had nothing to do with him being a Muggle. The real problem was that she wasn't in love with him.

She should have been. She tried to be. There was just something missing and it wasn't wizardry.

She refused to admit to herself what that something was. She refused to believe that she was incapable of loving anyone besides Harry Potter.

If that wasn't bad enough, she began to get suspicious of Harry one day when she was out shopping with Hermione. They were having a great time picking things out for the babies. Hermione was due any day now and they were all very excited.

They had wandered into a restaurant for lunch. Well Ginny wandered, Hermione waddled. Well wouldn't you know it? Harry had been out with Ron and they had amazingly decided to go the same place. Hermione tried to pass it off as a coincidence but Ginny could tell she and Ron were up to something.

She cornered Hermione afterwards. "What are you and my brother getting at?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, trying to hide her smile.

"You know what I mean," said Ginny crossly.

"Ron and I just want you two to talk. The stress level between you two is unreal. You need to settle this."

"There is nothing to settle. We have both moved on. I am dating Chet and well, he is dating every little trollop who throws themselves at him."

Hermione looked at her suspiciously. "You can't be serious about Chet, can you?" she asked. "Oh Ginny, he's nice and all, but he's just not for you."

"I happen to think Chet is a great guy!" she fought back.

"But you don't love him," stated Hermione flatly.

"No, but… Hey I never said that I didn't love him."

"Yes, but you never said you did either. How long have you been dating? Seven months? Seems to me, if you loved him, you would know it by now?"

"Are you expecting Harry and I to get back together? Wasn't it you who told me a few months ago to forget about him? That he had not promised me anything!" Ginny was trying not to get too upset with her. She did not need her going into labor right in the middle of Diagon Alley.

"I told you to stop being mad at him and not to avoid him. I never said you should forget about him."

"Are you saying I should dump Chet and throw myself at Harry? It looks to me if he wanted me back he wouldn't be dating everything in a skirt."

"A bit jealous aren't we Ginevra?"

Now Ginny was mad. "I told you before," she yelled. "I never want to be hurt by him again!! She took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Look Hermione; let's just drop it, ok. I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's just not worth it."

Hermione gave her a big hug. "I am sorry if I hurt your feelings Gin, I just want what's best for you, that's all. But you're right. Maybe you have been through enough."

Ginny couldn't help thinking about that conversation all night_. Did Hermione know something she didn't? She was one of Harry's best friends._ In the end she decided just to stay her course. She and Harry weren't exactly friends but they were being civil with each other. She couldn't get wrapped up in this anyhow. She had Quidditch practice the next evening with him. They were supposed to be working on a new Seeker's defense.


	6. Sparks on the Quidditch Pitch

_**AN: Thank you so much to the beta goddess GinnyLovesHarry1995. She is the best**_

**Sparks on the Quidditch Pitch**

The next evening, as planned, Harry and Ginny were in the Quidditch pitch. It was a cool March night with a full new moon and tons of stars. The average couple would think it a perfect night for romance. To Harry and Ginny it was a perfect night for Quidditch.

Their new maneuver was a fake out. Harry was actually having a difficult time with the dive and Ginny was enjoying antagonizing him. Currently, sarcasm was her best way to deal with her problems.

She was throwing a quaffle, that she had charmed to act as a boomerang, and Harry was dodging it.

"Come on ya troll, my mum moves faster than that on a broom. Are you sure that's your new Firebolt 2K8 and not a house broom?"

Ginny was having so much fun teasing Harry that she forgot about her charmed quaffle. It had made a quick return and hit her so hard that it knocked her clear off her broom. She was in now shock and falling fast.

Luckily, Harry was close by and saw the whole thing. He went into a power dive to try to catch her.

They were probably a good forty feet off the ground when grabbed her out of mid-air. Quickly, he fumbled around, hoping her wand was in the same place that she had always kept it. He found it just in time to call out Aresto Momentum, saying a prayer of thanks as they neared the fast approaching Quidditch pitch.

As Ginny was falling and her life was flashing before her eyes, her prevailing thought was, "_How did he know I had it tucked in my jeans? Bugger!"_

They landed awkwardly in the sand, arranged in quite the precarious position. Harry was atop her with his hand still under her jumper holding onto her wand.

"You ok?" he asked breathlessly, his face mere inches from hers. _God he smelled great_, she thought.

"Yeah," she said as she tried to sit up.

This forced Harry's hand even further up her jumper. It moved from her stomach to her breasts, grazing her lace bra, igniting sparks, which had long ago been stifled. He was still breathing heavy and looking intently into her eyes. _My God, his eyes are amazingly green, _she thought.

"Uh, Harry?" she asked.

"Yes, Gin," he said with a bit of huskiness to his voice.

"You are on top of me and your hand is up my jumper," she said coolly.

"And?" he asked as if it was the most natural position in the world.

"And I need to get up" she managed.

"Why?" he asked.

"Uh, Harry?" she asked again.

"Yes, Gin," his face was now mere centimeters from hers.

"Is that your wand in your pocket?" she asked.

"No, that's why I had to grab yours. I couldn't reach mine; it's attached to my calf," he said then suddenly realized why she had asked.

"Oh," he said as his face turned scarlet and his grin grew just a bit more mischievous.

"Well, I guess I am just happy to see you," he said in a devilishly sexy voice.

Ginny's libido was celebrating inside; doing a little happy dance, but it was the logical side of her, which spoke up.

"NO!" she yelled then glared back at him.

Suddenly, everything she had wanted to say to him over the past seven year came screaming back to her.

"I waited Harry! I waited patiently for an entire year. I knew you would come back to me after the battle." She was starting to feel choked up. "But you didn't! You left without a word. No goodbye. No give me some time. NOTHING!! Oh, yeah, I forgot about that endearing little note you wrote on the bottom of my parents' letter. You must have really cared Harry to have put so much thought into those two lines before you abandon me!"

He looked completely shocked and then sad.

At that point, she did not care one bit. She was angry. She wanted him to hurt as much as he had hurt her.

He tried to say something but she would not let him.

"I don't care Harry. I really do not care what you have to say. I am over you. I told you that before, and I meant it. I will never be hurt by you again Harry Potter. I promised myself that, years ago."

With that, she forcibly shoved him off and grabbed her wand out of his hand.

"Accio Ginny's Cleansweep!" She shouted as she stood up and ran from the pitch. The last thing she wanted was for him to return her broom.

As she stormed back to the castle, she thought she was seriously going out of her mind. She had kept a miniscule flicker of hope alive for years. Then she had finally, truly let go and went on with her life. BOOM! He shows up again. No problem, she could handle it. He had not appeared to be the least bit interested in her. She continued to go on with her life, dating, going out with friends.

Then what happens! The bloody git goes and saves her life. AGAIN!! Falls on top of her, feels her up, and hints at having a bloody _snog_ session right there in the sand. Ginny felt like hexing everything in sight. For a moment, lying in his arms felt so wonderful. If she had not come to her senses, Harry might have gotten that snog.

She tried to call Hermione to talk with her about it but she and Ron were not in.

O O O

The next morning at breakfast, Pig delivered letters to both Harry and Ginny.

Hermione had the babies last night and was awaiting their visits at St. Mungo's Maternity Ward

McGonagall gave them each the ok and they flooed over separately. The awkwardness between them was so much that they were even avoiding eye contact.

When Ginny arrived, Hermione was already sitting up in her bed nursing one of the babies.

Ginny waved and sat down, waiting for the baby to finish. "Well?" she whispered, trying not to disturb the hungry little one and its twin sleeping in the nearby bassinet.

Hermione smiled "both girls," she whispered, "and both ginger haired." She reached up and lightly caressed the downy hair of the one she was now burping.

Not even twenty-four hours, and she was already a pro at handling them. She probably gave them a stern talking to as soon as they were born, instructing them not to cry out of turn, to sleep through the night, and to grow up to be good little scholars.

Ginny got up and went over to see them better. They were beautiful. "What are their names?" she asked.

"Emma and Molly, after each of their grandmothers."

"Oh, you are definitely mum's favorite now. First, you actually _marry_ Ronald, then you give her not one, but two grandchildren and they are both girls. Then you name one after her. I'm surprised she hasn't baked you a cake.

At this, Hermione smiled and pointed over to a side table. There sat two cakes, each with pink icing and the girl's names, birthdates, times and weights written in white.

"Ah, I see Molly was born first," said Ginny as she looked over at the two, now bundled side by side in their bassinet.

"Which one is which?" she asked.

"Look at their bracelets," laughed Hermione. "That's the only way I can tell so far."

Ginny peeked in on them. "Wow, I hope they develop some differences. We still have a hard time with Fred and George. Though, I think they do it intentionally to keep us on our toes."

Ginny was sitting on Hermione's bed holding Molly when Ron and Harry walked in. For a second Harry just stared at her, as if in a trance. She watched as he shook his head to clear whatever thoughts he was having.

Hermione and Ron just watched them, as if waiting for something to happen. Like they were going to run into each other's arms and proclaim their undying love.

Harry looked at her shyly, said "Hi Ginny," and then quickly looked away.

"Hey Harry," she responded then quickly turned back to Hermione.

Hermione just sighed, disgusted with both of them, and looked over at Ron. "Did you tell him?" she asked.

"Nope, I was hoping we could do it together," he said with a sly grin, knowing he was getting out of something he was not looking forward to in the first place.

She looked up at the ceiling, "Oh, boy this is going to be fun."

Ginny got up and moved over to the chair with Molly so Ron could sit next to his wife. Ron then motioned for Harry to take the seat next to Ginny. Once he sat down Ron handed him Emma.

Ginny had to chuckle, this was obviously Harry's first time holding a baby. He looked petrified, as if he might break her. He looked over to Ginny and grimaced.

"Well, now that we're all settled," began Hermione. "Ron and I have been talking about this for a long time. Even though things may not have worked out like we thought," with this she eyed them both and sighed with pity, "we are standing by our original decision."

Harry and Ginny must have both looked confused, because Ron then said, "What my darling wife is trying to say is," he looked over and smiled at her, "we want you both to be their Godparents."

"What!" they both yelled, just a bit too loud. Both babies awoke and started screaming their little ginger heads off.

Ginny started bouncing hers to quite her down. Harry looked horrified and franticly gave his back to Hermione.

She couldn't help it, she had to laugh. Somehow, inside she knew he would make a great father. He just needed to get used to holding a baby first.

"'That way, there will be one for each of them," added Hermione with a big grin, looking quite pleased with her little scheme.

"Are you sure?" asked Ginny. "You are aware that we will never be a couple again, right?"

Harry leaned over to her and whispered, "Did you have to put it that way?"

She looked back at him and smiled sarcastically. "Oh, did I hurt your feelings? What a shame. Now I only need to do that for another, oh I don't know, few _YEARS_. And we'll be even, now won't we."

Ginny mentally checked off a point for herself when Harry's reaction to her retort was priceless.

She looked over to Ron and Hermione and shrugged, "Sure, why not."

Harry looked over at her as if in complete shock. "Brilliant," she heard him mutter. He then looked over to the happy new parents and sort of smiled.

Hermione took that as a yes, "Great, I'm glad that's settled." She actually looked like she thought she was doing them a favor.

Ron handed Harry back the baby. Once she had settled, he took a picture of the new Godparents holding their Godchildren.

Ginny could not help but smile because Hermione made a hysterical face right before Ron took the picture. Harry had somehow slipped his arm around her. The picture looked down right cozy. Harry had an unbelievably handsome smile on his face, looking like the happiest man in the world.

OF COURSE, some horrible witch tabloid got a copy of the photo and it made the front page. The headline read,_ "POTTER'S SECRET FAMILY."_ The article went on the say that one of their top reporters was witness to the miraculous birth of the Potter twins, who were born while Harry was vanquishing a Dark Wizard. He and Ginny had been secretly married for years and were planning on coming out into the open now that they had a family and he was going to be named Minister of Magic.

Thank God, Chet did not read Witch tabloid news or Ginny would have had a lot of explaining to do.

The day after the appeared, the school was a buzz with the news. Ginny was monitoring study hall when she overheard a group of fifth year girl's conversation.

_Girl One: Did you read the article?_

_Girl Two: Yah, I know it's a bunch of rubbish, but you have to admit Professor Potter goes gaga any time Professor Weasley is around. I once saw him walk into a tree because he was watching her read by Black Lake. _

_Girl One: I know, she must be blind or something. If I were her, I would love any attention he gave me. He is such a hottie!_

_Girl Three: Yah, but she practically ignores him. I swear, she tries to act like he doesn't exist._

_Girl Two: My older sister told me that they were quite the hot item right before he went off to kill "You Know Who." Supposedly, he broke it off with her because he wanted to protect her. Then he just dropped off the face of the earth._

_Girl Three: Yah, I heard she didn't leave her house for a year or something. She almost didn't graduate!_

_Girl One: I heard she has a Muggle boyfriend who wants her to leave the Wizarding World, and marry him and live like a Muggle._

_Girl Two: Who in their right mind would date a Muggle when they could have Harry Potter – The Man Who Conquered! I would let him conquer me any time!_

_Girl Three: Yah, I know. She seems so cool in class. I love her Women's Studies class and Charms is always fun. Why would anyone refuse Harry Potter?_

At this, Ginny got up and walked up to them. "Is everything ok girls? Do you need any help with anything?"

"No, Professor Weasley. We are just fine thank you," responded girl number two. Ginny looked more closely at her. "Isn't your name Rosalinda Vane?" she asked.

"Yes," she said, dreading what she knew would be the next question.

"Isn't Romilda your older sister?" asked Ginny, knowing the answer was yes.

"Yes," she whispered, looking as if she wanted to crawl under the desk.

"Oh," smile Ginny, "Tell Romilda I said hello. I am surprised she hasn't come to visit you on Hogsmeade weekends. I am sure she would love to drop in and say hello to Professor Potter. They were friends in school you know."

"Yeah, she sort of talks about Professor Potter a lot in her letters." With this, she looked back down at her books and mumbled. "I'll tell her you said hello Professor Weasley, I'm sure she will be thrilled."

Ginny had to suppress a chuckle. Romilda practically interrogated her on a daily basis while she and Harry were dating. She probably still thinks Harry has a Hungarian Horntail tattooed on his chest. Too bad she couldn't see his chest now. Tattoo or not, it is quite amazing…. Ginny had to stop herself from continuing her train of thought. She was supposed to be day-dreaming about Chet's chest, not Harry's.

That night she could have died when Headmistress McGonagall made an announcement at dinner.

"I am sure many of you are aware of the slanderous article that was written about Professor Potter and Professor Weasley, of this I will not go into further detail. Rather, I will simply remind you that it is a complete falsehood. If you are truly interested in the birth of their nieces, Professor Potter and Professor Weasley will be more than happy to answer any reasonable questions, and I do mean reasonable. I assume out of respect for our two professors, that all copies of this malevolent garbage will be placed in the proper receptacles."

Of course, this just meant that even more people were now going to read it and talk about it non-stop.


	7. The Christening

O O O

_AN: Surprised? Well, I got a review that asked when I was going to continue the story and I decided to finally post this chapter. Several chapters have been written but have not been beta'd. So, sorry for any mistakes. Anyone up for the challenge please PM me. I am always on the look out for a good beta!_

**The Christening**

The babies christening was the following weekend. The service would be at Hermione's church, with the party held afterwards at the Burrow.

Harry and Ginny were under strict orders to be on their best behavior. They had not stopped bickering since the incident at the Quidditch pitch.

In actuality, it was all Ginny. Still feeling guilty for hurting her, Harry just stood back and took it.

O O O

He was sitting at the Leaky Cauldron on the evening before the babies christening with the Weasley clan, minus Ginny and Percy of course. They had just witnessed a full Ginny meltdown a few hours before at the Burrow and Harry desperately needed a pint.

He had simply asked if she wanted to go with him to pick up the twins christening gifts in Diagon Alley.

Of course, she used this as an excuse to let him have it. Suddenly she was ranting about not wanting anything to do with him and that she only agreed to be a Godparent with him for the sheer reason that Hermione was her best friend and Ron was her brother. Otherwise, he could just drop dead and die.

"Mate, you really can't let her get into her stride," laughed Fred over his pint.

"Yah mate," said George, "Remember she took lessons from the best. Old Molly is the master, but Gin-Gin is a close second."

Harry just sat and sulked into his drink. He wanted to tell them that he deserved it all. He disappeared from the wizarding world, showed up six years later at her job, then tried to take advantage of an innocent situation in a Quidditch pitch. On top of that she was still dating Chet. So really, he had hit on his mates girlfriend. He had to admit, he was a heel.

"We all agree Harry," said Bill. "You have paid your dues a few times over. She has been harping on you, twenty-four seven, for the past week. Enough is enough."

"Thanks for your support, mates," said Harry as he finished his glass and ordered another. "But maybe if she yells at me for a few days, she'll stop being mad, long enough for me to apologize."

"Not going to happen," said Ron. "Back when we were kids, she once wouldn't speak to me for months just because I teased her when she lost her two front teeth."

Harry just let out a groan and sunk further into his chair. "Why is she being so stubborn? All I want to do is apologize, but every time I try she practically tears my head off."

"She wouldn't be so mad if she didn't care," said Bill. "It's obvious she still fancies you. We just have to convince her to stop screaming at you long enough to remember."

O O O

The next morning, the ceremony at the church went very well. Ginny was all smiles as long as she wasn't forced to be near Harry for too long.

The party was now gathered at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley had set up an amazing brunch and everyone was eager to tuck in.

Ron and Hermione stood at the head table ready to make a toast to the new Godparents of their twin girls. Harry and Ginny had sat together only after a threat of death by Mrs. Weasley.

After Ron and Hermione's toast, Harry and Ginny stood up to make a toast to the twin girls who they would watch over as if they were their own.

Just as Harry was about to speak, a shrill voice was heard from one of the corner tables. "It's about time Ginevra married that Potter boy."

Everyone turned to look at Aunt Muriel, who was now so hard of hearing that she did not catch the many people now trying to shush her.

"Why isn't she wearing my tiara?" she practically screeched. "I told Ginevra years ago that she could borrow it. Though, that Potter boy could have bought her one of her own. I hear he has buckets of gold stashed away at Gringotts."

Finally, someone was able to quiet her down so that Harry could fumble through the speech that Ginny had prepared for him. As soon as he was done, he grabbed his wand and changed his glass of champagne into Fire Whiskey.

After brunch, everyone was socializing and catching up with old friends. This was the first time that Harry had seen any of his former classmates from Hogwarts in six years. He was having a good time reminiscing some of his more memorable Quidditch games.

Out of the corner of his eye, he had spotted Ginny. He couldn't help himself from staring.

"She is hot, isn't she?" said someone from behind him.

Harry absentmindedly nodded his head. He turned around to find Michael Corner, who was also staring at Ginny.

She was wearing an amazing dress that accentuated her figure. She looked positively breathtaking just standing there cooing at the twins.

"Well, Harry I guess we are members of the same club now eh?" chortled Michael.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"We both dated Ginny," he said as if Harry should have remembered. "I even thought we would get married. But it just didn't happen."

"Wait, you only dated at Hogwarts right," asked Harry, now a bit confused.

Michael shook his head. "After the war, she hardly spoke to anyone. She did not even return owls until after she had left for college. That was when we started dating again. We lasted quite a while. Like I said, I even thought we would get married."

Michael suddenly stopped talking and went to get another drink. He did not seem at all happy about how his relationship with Ginny had ended.

Harry found Ron and practically bit his head off. "Why didn't you tell me Corner had proposed to her?"

"Well, you were involved with Rebecca at the time and we all thought you were going to marry her. You never told us that you still fancied Ginny. No one had a bloody clue until you told us your big plan to get her back.

Harry looked seriously at Ron, "I have never stopped caring about your sister."

"Were you not the one who broke it off with her?" he shot back. "How was I supposed to know that you still fancied her, you were going to propose to Rebecca remember."

"Is there anything else I don't know?" asked Harry.

"Well, there was this other wizard, but she obviously didn't have real feelings for him. I think his mother pressured him into it. She wanted their family to be a part of the Weasley celebrity status, the old hag. I'm glad she didn't say yes to him, he was a wimp. Fred and George would have eaten him alive for breakfast."

Harry just sighed and walked away. What had he done? While he was off being selfish and trying to rediscover himself, the woman he loved was being hit on by every man on the planet.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the garden entrance. When Harry went over to investigate he found Ginny wrapped around a very handsome man. His luck seemed to be holding.

Upon closer inspection he realized that the handsome man was none other than Neville Longbottom. He had forgotten that he was returning from South America in time for the christening. It seems two years in the jungle had changed him quite a bit. He was no longer the tall and lanky teenager but a tan robust wizard who looked like he could take on all six Weasley brothers at the same time.

He walked over and greeted Neville with a hug, "It's so good to see you Neville," he said to his old school friend.

"Harry it's great to see you back in the wizarding world. Hermione wrote me and told me you had returned. I am sorry I wasn't here to help you out."

Harry just shrugged, "I just needed to clear my head is all. I'm just happy to be home again."

Neville smiled, understanding exactly what Harry meant. His first trip away had been right after the war. He had traveled to the Congo rainforests of Africa. He had used that time to sort a lot of things out in his life, as well as search for new species of plant life.

"It's wonderful that you're teaching at Hogwarts! It will be great to have you back in the castle. I can't wait to get back to my greenhouses and start teaching again. I hope that Professor Hyacinth kept them in good order while I was on sabbatical. We have about twenty crates of materials that we brought back and I would really like to unpack them right away."

As soon as he said the word 'we' everyone noticed for the first time that Neville had not arrived alone. All eyes were now upon his beautiful companion.

"Oh, where are my manners," he said when he noticed everyone staring. He took the hand of the lovely brunette next to him then motioned to the group surrounding them, "Gabrielle I would like you to meet my friends from Hogwarts."

The women smiled politely, "Hello, it's so nice to finally meet you all," she said in a definite American accent. "Nev, has told me so many fantastic stories that I feel like I know you all already."

Neville smiled widely at his friends reactions. He was sure some of them were hoping that he left out certain details of their more daring escapades. "Everyone, I would like you to meet Gabrielle, fellow botanist, rainforest conservationist, and my wife."

The group of friends stood gaping for a moment. Suddenly the girls erupted in squeals of delight and started hugging both Neville and Gabrielle.

They guys, did what guys do. They covertly sized up how gorgeous Gabrielle was and patted Neville on the back, as if to say 'job well done!'

"Congratulations, Nev," they all chimed.

The couple beamed, it was obvious that they were deliriously in love. Neville had to go halfway around the world and into a remote rainforest, but he had found the love of his life.

Gabrielle was from originally from Salem, Massachusetts, and had been on the same wizarding expedition in the Amazon rainforest. They were charming the rainforests so that they could no longer be destroyed by the Muggle world. Large machinery would suddenly stop working and fires would extinguish themselves before they could do any real damage. It was a worthy cause that was saving millions species and rainforest acreage.

They had met in the tree tops, each hooked into the canopy rigging. Her line had gotten stuck between trees and she had dropped her wand. Neville had heard her calls for help and propelled in to rescue her. Since the moment they had met they were inseparable.

They were married a year later in a small South American wizarding village. The fact that Neville wanted to move back to England and continue teaching at Hogwarts had not fazed her. She wanted to be with him and start a family and they couldn't be happier.

Harry looked at them, trying hard to hide his jealousy. Neville was happily married. If he had been a little smarter, that could have been him. This could have possibly been a christening party for his and Ginny's child.

These thoughts only further depressed him. He promised Neville to catch back up with him later and walked toward the barn. He needed to get away for a few minutes, being near Ginny was getting to be almost unbearable.

Luna caught up with Harry a few minutes later. "Why are you hiding?" she asked.

"I'm not hiding," he tried to protest. Luna looked at him again. "Alright, I'm hiding," he admitted. "I am just mad at myself for being such a prat for so long."

Luna looked at him confused.

"You know, the whole, going into hiding in the Muggle world, thing."

"Oh, that," she said as she sat down on the hay bail next to him. "I will have to admit Harry, we all missed you terribly. You were our hero and you deserted us."

Harry swallowed hard, leave it to Luna to get straight to the point.

"I think Ginny took it the hardest," she continued, as if what she had said should not have bothered him. "She was really depressed for a long time. She was deeply in love with you and you left without a word. I think she is just trying to hurt you like you had hurt her all those years ago." Luna stopped and looked at Harry, as if to make sure he understood. "I bet, if you show her how much you still love her, she will remember how much she still loves you."

"I have," tried Harry, but she interrupted him.

"From what I hear, you have been doing a lot of dating. How does that show her that you still love her?"

Harry was getting frustrated, whose advice should he take? "So you're saying I should beg."

"No, but earning her trust back would be a start. Her heart does not belong to Chet, it belongs to you Harry. It always has and always will. You two are soul mates."

Harry reached over and hugged Luna tightly, "Thanks Luna, you are a true friend. I think what you said doesn't just apply to Ginny. I guess I just expected everyone to treat me like they did before I left.

"We are all so different now, Harry. Every one of us was affected by the war, differently than you of course, but still affected."

Luna got up and held her hand out for Harry to come with her. "Let's go and join our friends. We all need each other Harry, even if there is not a war going on."

_AN: Next chapter is finished, just reading it for the hundredth time to catch any mistakes. Anyone willing to help out, please apply_!


	8. Meet the Trollop

AN: My sincerest apologies for the severe gap between updates. And thanks to all of you who have stuck with me.

**MEET THE TROLLOP**

The following Saturday Ginny met Chet at their favorite pub for dinner, and drinks with their friends. She knew she would see Harry; she was even anxious to see which gold digging trollop he would have draped on his arm.

After dinner she started getting curious. Harry had yet to make an appearance.

"Who are you looking for?" asked Chet after he had caught her staring at the door each time it had opened.

"No one," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Are you looking for Harry?" he asked.

"No, of course not," she scoffed.

"Well, I ran into his ex-girlfriend Rebecca the other day and she seemed pretty intent on tracking him down. He's probably out with her."

"Rebecca?" she asked, trying not to sound too interested.

"They were pretty hot and heavy for a while. I even think he was going to pop the question. But then she sacked him, he was pretty torn up."

"Why did she sack him?" she couldn't help but ask.

"I have no idea. He was pretty hush about it. He didn't date anyone for a while after though. Then there was Liza, she was a real trip. He's never dated as much as he does now though. I have never seen him out with this many different women before, even back in Oxford."

"Oh," said Ginny, still thinking about it. Things just didn't add up to her. _Why would he suddenly enter back into the wizarding world after a break up with a Muggle, to just starting dating Muggles again?_

While she was thinking Chet nudged her under the table. She looked up to see Harry walking in with someone. As they approached Ginny had to look twice, it was her Muggle twin! Or at least she appeared as much.

His new date was all smiles and looked deliriously happy. She was impeccably dressed with long manicured nails, perfectly coiffed hair and wearing some pretty flashy jewelry. Her tennis bracelet looked as if she should need a house elf to help her keep her wrist up.

"Hello all," said his date in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Look who I found," she said as she placed her perfectly manicured hand on Harry's chest and kissed his cheek.

"He sounded so lonely when I rang him, that I just insisted he pick me up so we could catch up like old chums."

Harry just grimaced and tried to wiggle out of her grasp. "I mentioned that I was meeting everyone for dinner and drinks and she really wanted to come along. So here we are."

"And who is this?" she asked as she spotted Ginny sitting snugly next to Chet. "Chesterfield, I see you have a new friend."

"Becky, this is my girlfriend Ginny Weasley," said Chet with a smile as he wrapped his arm around the back of her chair and gave her a little squeeze. "Ginny, this is Becky Alcott."

She held out her manicured talons and shook Ginny's hand. "It's Rebecca," she said with a tight smile. "Weasley," she asked, suddenly looking a bit pale. "You're not by any chance related to Harry's dear friend Ronald, now, are you?"

Ginny plastered on her biggest smile, "As a matter of fact yes, he's my brother. Harry and I are old school chums."

She almost laughed out loud when she saw Rebecca's nails dig deeper into Harry's arm, causing him to wince.

"You're _that _Ginny?" asked Rebecca, through an overly bright smile.

"The one and only," smiled Ginny. "I teach at Chesterbrook as well. I was absolutely shocked when Harry told me he would be joining the faculty." Then she added, just to be smart, "And can you believe it, our classrooms are right next to each other."

She noticed that Chet didn't seem very happy about her last comment. Because she couldn't help herself, she continued, "Harry and I practically grew up together." For some sick reason she was pouring it on thick, enjoying watching this gingered hair Barbie squirm.

"Well, we'll get to be just like sisters, now won't we," said Rebecca as she sat down, practically in Harry's lap.

"Well, we certainly look the part, don't we," said Ginny with an even brighter smile as she looked over at Harry, who was practically drowning himself in his pint.

"Yes, isn't that just something, we could be twins now couldn't we." Rebecca thought for a moment then continued, "Though I didn't choose a similar career. I don't know how you work with children. I just can't stand the little beasts. I was quite surprised when Harry told me what he's been up to. It must be so draining dealing with them all day. They must suck the life right out of you. I don't think I could stand looking so old before my time." She eyed Ginny up and down, "Not that you look old dear. I'd say you're holding up quite well."

Ginny practically reached under her blouse and pulled her wand out. "Why thank you. I do what I can."

The rest of the group sat mesmerized as the two women went at it. Harry saw Ginny's right arm flinch, so he quickly spoke up. "Rebecca, did I mention that Ron and Hermione had the babies?"

"Oh, really, how sad," she frowned, "I guess we won't be seeing them anymore now will we?"

Ginny couldn't resist. "Oh, Harry and I will. We've been named their Godparents."

She giggled when she heard a thump and saw Harry wince again. Rebecca must have stepped on his foot with her spiky heel. "How exciting, Harry failed to mention that, didn't you love."

"Sorry, must have slipped my mind," he said with a shrug.

It was obvious that Harry had been forced into this meeting. He looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there next Rebecca.

"Oh, Harry let's tell them the big news," said Rebecca sweetly as she glared at Ginny. She had known from the moment they had walked in that this new woman would be trouble. She had felt Harry tense up as they had approached the table and she couldn't help but notice how he couldn't keep his eyes off her.

Last year when she had known that Harry was going to propose, she was just not ready. She ended up telling him that he needed time to get his head together. She needed to be the center of her husband's universe, and Harry didn't pay _nearly_ enough attention to her. She had a feeling that Harry's heart belonged to someone else, a part of his mysterious past that he never talked about.

She was an extremely desirable woman and she didn't want to settle for just anyone. She deserved the best, and she was determined to get it. She had thought that Harry would come running back. But by the time she tried to get back in touch with him, he had dropped off of the face of the earth.

Now she finally had him back in her grasp, and the mystery girl shows up. It was just a little too coincidental how much she and Ginny resembled each other. She refused to believe that she of all people had been a substitute.

She was Rebecca Alcott. She had men standing in line to date her. Of course they had to have the right credentials, but there was still a line.

She actually had another man waiting in the wings for her. She was just mad that he wouldn't buy her the Villa in Tuscany that she wanted, and she was certain that she could get Harry to do it.

"Well," she continued, "I have convinced Harry that he must throw a party."

Immediately, the whole table got excited. Ginny looked a bit confused so Chet explained it to her while everyone else busily chatted.

"Every year, Potter throws this huge party at his house. He books a great band and sets out this huge spread. It's always great fun. You'll have to come with me."

Ginny was floored. Who was this other person that Harry had become while he was around all of these Muggles? Throwing big parties and dating shallow women. Maybe she really didn't know him after all.

"I'll see if I can make it," she answered reluctantly.

AN: Next chapter, _The Party of the Year_.


	9. The Party

AN: Hello all. Surprised to see me? I bet you are. As I said to some of you in responses to you fabulous reviews (you all rock!), this chapter has been finished for some time and sitting on my computer. The next one is as well, though I am still batting it around a bit. So I cannot guarantee the time-line on it, but I will try to get it out soon.

**THE PARTY**

Time seemed to fly and it was now the evening of the party. Ginny had agreed to go, but was now regretting it greatly.

Over the past few weeks she had suffered several group outings with Rebecca and Harry, each one worse than the one before. It seemed Rebecca was determined to let everyone know that she and Harry were an item again. When it was just the girls, she went on and on about how he was certain to pop the question any day now.

Unfortunately, things between her and Chet had also been going downhill.

He was trying so hard to take their relationship to the next level, and she just didn't want to go there. He was trying desperately to get her to go to dinner at his parents' country house and she was running out of excuses not to. She knew she needed to break it off, she hated leading him on like this. The truth was that she really did like him; she was just not in love with him.

Ginny was absolutely amazed when she and Chet drove up to Harry's house. It was quite large for just one person. But what shocked her most of all were the Quidditch hoops looming in the sky just beyond. He must have charmed them so the Muggles couldn't see them. Otherwise, they would be pretty hard to explain.

"Glad you could make it," said Harry as he welcomed them into the house.

As usual he had to stop himself from staring at Ginny. She was wearing a pretty little spring dress and looked amazing. Her auburn hair was tied loosely at her neck and of course there was the usual flowery smell that sent him over the edge.

He hated that she was dating Chet, but at least he got to keep an eye on her. That was, when Rebecca wasn't around. It seemed every time he turned around she was there. Even when he hadn't invited her, she showed up and acted like his date. He wanted so badly to tell her to get lost, but they were her friends as well as his, so he kept his mouth shut. Every time he told her that they couldn't be a couple again she just brushed him off and told him he was just confused and he would see his way back to her eventually.

Thinking back, he wondered to himself what he ever saw in her, besides the fact that she looked so much like Ginny. He guessed that it was what he wanted to see at the time, and if he couldn't have the real thing, she was a near second.

He knew that Rebecca was just using him to get back at her latest. He wasn't stupid. Chet had warned him about Richard as soon as Harry had told him about her call. She and Richard deserved each other; he was just as shallow as she was.

He also knew for certain that Ginny was not in love with Chet. He knew what she was like when she was in love - he was once the man she acted that way around.

He kept telling himself that he was just biding his time. He wanted her to get used to him being around, and when the time was right, he planned on making sure she knew that he wasn't going anywhere again, at least not without her by his side.

He was amazed at his patience over this. It was certainly not one of his strong points. He just knew that she was worth it.

He also knew that he needed to wait out her stubbornness to make his move. The last thing he wanted was for her to run away, especially when he had her so close on a daily basis.

The party was turning out to be quite a success. The band was great and Kreacher had outdone himself on the food.

All of Harry's charms seemed to be holding well, no one had noticed his new Quidditch pitch or the fact that the trays of food were magically refilling themselves. He had only had to use the confundus charm on a few people.

He saw that Chet was dateless most of the evening and wondered why Ginny was not with him. He hadn't seen her lately either, though he had a pretty good idea where she might be.

"Hey mate, where's Gin?" asked Harry

Chet laughed, "You know I called her that once and she nearly tore my head off.

You call her that all the time and she never says a thing."

Harry shrugged, looking a bit guilty. He had noticed that as well. She had never liked anyone else calling her that but him.

"Look," said Chet, "I think you and I both have a good idea of why that is."

Harry nodded. Chet wasn't one of his best mates for nothing.

Chet sighed and took a long drink, "Ginny and I agreed to call it quits. Hell, I'm completely surprised it didn't happen before tonight."

"Chet," tried Harry.

"Look mate, I know you haven't done a thing. Hell, you've dated half of London. The only reason I am saying this is because I have watched the way you two act around each other. You have some serious issues to work out." He gave a defeated laugh, "Half the time I can't tell if she wants to slug you or snog you half to death."

Harry felt like a complete ass. Chet had known all along.

"Hey, no hard feelings, right?" asked Chet.

"No, hard feelings," said Harry with a smile. "I was the prat who broke it off with her. I don't even know if she'll ever forgive me. But right now I have an even bigger problem. Do you think you could help me with Rebecca? She's driving me bloody mental. I'm about to ring Richard myself and get him over here."

Chet laughed. "I think one of our friends knows his number. That would be some fine entertainment, now wouldn't it? You know this is all over a house in Tuscany, right."

Harry nodded his head and laughed. "She thinks that I'm just going to roll over and hand her my checkbook. What a princess. I have no idea what I saw in her in the first place."

"Oh, don't be daft Harry," laughed Chet. "She's practically Ginny's twin. Well, except for the fact that Ginny has a soul and a conscience."

Harry laughed; it was the truth. Rebecca was incredibly shallow.

Chet patted Harry on the back, "Listen, I'm going to get going. Ginny said she didn't need a ride home and I'm beat."

"Are you and Ginny ok?" asked Harry. "I really don't want things to be awkward."

"Yah, we're great. We ended on really good terms. She's a real good friend. I think that's what we were to each other all along anyway. We never got too serious."

Harry smiled, he knew exactly what Chet had been saying and he was relieved.

After the remainder of his guests had left, Harry made his way out to the Quidditch pitch. Kreacher had had the place clean before Harry even had the chance to offer his help.

As expected, when he got to his broom closet, his Firebolt was missing. He pulled out his wand and cast an anti-disillusionment charm. Looking up, he found her flying around the pitch at break neck speed.

He grabbed his Nimbus 2K8 and walked onto the sand.

At first he just watched her. She was an amazing flyer. He had really thought she would have gone into professional Quidditch. He had never expected her to become a teacher.

Finally, he took off, soaring up to meet her and matching her speed perfectly.

She looked over and saw him. She had felt him remove her disillusionment charm, but had decided not to do anything about it. If he wanted to watch her fly, so be it. Now that he had joined her, she just figured they would just fly around for a little while.

She saw him reach into his pocket and pull something out. She looked closely and noticed that between his fingers was a gold snitch, fighting to make its way free.

She nodded her head. It really frightened her just how well he knew her. She wasn't in the mood to talk and he wasn't pressuring her. He felt the same way she did about Quidditch; it was answer to most of life's problems.

Harry released the tiny orb and it quickly made itself scarce. They took off into opposite directions and started scanning the pitch for their elusive target.

Suddenly, he saw her streak downward. He took off after her, knowing that she had spotted the snitch.

Really, he was on the faster broom. But there was something about the Firebolt that his Godfather had given him that made it special, practically unbeatable. Its maneuverability was unsurpassed. Harry still hadn't found a broom that could perform a Wonski feint as well.

Ginny was closing in on the snitch when it darted backward just out of her reach. Unbeknownst to her, Harry had charmed this snitch to be virtually uncatchable. He had only succeeded three or four times to date. It was always a good one when he needed to let off a little steam.

He saw her curse then dive down again to start searching. If he didn't tell her, they would be out there all night. _Maybe if I tire her out, she'll be too tired to apparate home_, he thought as he continued to zoom around the pitch.

An hour later, they were still playing cat and pixie with the talented snitch. Harry was getting tired and figured Ginny must be as well. He pulled up next to her, "I think this is the snitch that I charmed so I couldn't catch it. Do you want to call it a night?" he asked.

"When were you planning on letting me know this?" she answered sarcastically, though she felt a thousand times better than she had before.

He shrugged and headed down to the shed to put away his broom.

When he got back into the house he started the kettle and pulled out some of the M&M cookies that just happened to be Ginny's favorite.

She came in a few minutes later looking beautiful with her pink windblown cheeks and tousled hair.

"Tea?" he asked.

Ginny eyed the cookies. "You play dirty, you know," she said as she grabbed a cookie and sat down.

Harry smiled, "A man does what he has to do to get things done."

She eyed him, "What _are_ you trying to do?" she asked.

"Trying to get you to let me apologize," he said with a smile.

She looked crossly at him.

"Without you hexing me into oblivion," he added as he pointed to her wand, which he knew to be stashed in her bra.

She looked at him sternly for a minute then smiled. "Ok, you've got a captive audience, apologize away."

Harry's face brightened. "Really?" he asked.

"Really," she replied. "Just remember I am prepared to strike at the slightest hint of bullshit you try and pass over."

Ginny had prepared herself for this. She had anticipated that this conversation would be in her near future and she knew what it would entail. Harry would give her a bunch of excuses as to why he had taken off then tell her that he was still in love with her and that they should get back together.

"But," he tried.

"Ah," she interrupted. "Take advantage now Harry, I can't promise this chance again, any time soon."

"Ok, I promise no bullshit." He poured them each a cup and sat down across from her.

He took a deep breath. "The day of the battle was one of the worst days of my life. We had finally destroyed all but one of the Horcruxes and had lured Voldemort into the Department of Mysteries. We wanted him in a place where we knew he couldn't hurt a lot of people. I had to kill several Death Eaters to get to him." He looked away and took a deep breath, still feeling the pain in the acknowledgement that he had taken several lives. "I had no choice. It was either kill or be killed."

"Harry," she interrupted, "You don't have to tell me all of this."

He smiled and lightly touched her hand, "I want you to know everything. It's part of the whole story." He pulled his hand back and continued, "I had realized that I was the last Horcrux. I knew that I had to allow Voldemort to kill me. It was one of the hardest things I had ever been faced with and I knew I was going to die. The last thing I thought of before I heard Voldemort cast the killing curse was that kiss you gave me on my seventeenth birthday."

After a short pause he continued, "The next thing I realized was that I was at Kings Cross Station sitting with Dumbledore. He helped me decide to come back and finish what I had to do, to kill Voldemort."

Ginny was still staring at him, listening intently to his story. She knew that he was only giving her a summarized version. There would be time later to go into more detail if he wanted.

"After the battle, I didn't know who I was anymore. I wanted desperately to go back to you, but I felt so tainted. I had been the final Horcrux. That meant that a part of Voldemort's soul had lived inside of me for most of my life. Who was I really? How much of who I was had been influenced by him. I was so angry, so confused. I had felt as if I didn't deserve what had been given to me. Most of all, I felt as if I did not deserve you."

He looked at her, hoping she understood what he was trying to tell her. The only thing he saw was a single tear falling from her cheek. He wanted to reach over and kiss it away, but he knew that she hated to show weakness. He let her be.

"So I left and started a new life." At this he saw her face cloud over with hurt. He had been too blind to realize that she had wanted to be his strength and support, to help him through all the nightmares and fits of anger.

"About a year into my retreat Professor McGonagall visited me at my apartment in London. She wanted to check on me and promised that she would not reveal my location to anyone. Up to that point, I had still sworn off magic. I had locked my wand in a box and refused to cast a single spell." Ginny looked at him in complete shock. She couldn't imagine not using magic for a single day.

"Well, as you can guess, I was a mess. I was so glad that she had visited. I had just unintentionally blown up the TV at the pub because my cricket team had lost. I was losing control. I had already destroyed every appliance in my apartment. I was starting to be afraid to go outside, not knowing what would happen with the pent up magic inside of me. Well, McGonagall set me straight and convinced me to use magic again. It was a part of who I was, and I couldn't deny it any longer. I was lucky, if I had let it go much longer, I could have done some serious damage. So, I decided to only use magic in my apartment. Then, I decided to build this house so that I could have a place away from London to clear my head. I was doing well in school and was starting to feel pretty happy. The only problem was that I was missing you in my life. But I was still convinced that you were better off without me. I tried so hard to stay away, but I couldn't. I hate to say it, but I pulled out my cloak a few times to go and see you. "

Ginny looked at him in shock for a second time.

"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't stalking you or anything. Ron kept me pretty informed of what you were up to. Of course, Hermione reminded me what a prat I was being. But I wouldn't listen. It was like I had become two separate people, Harry the killing machine and Harry the Oxford student. You can imagine which one I preferred at the time. Oxford Harry was having a great time, partying and getting good grades. Hermione was thrilled with how much I would study. It was great learning about the world I had left behind and was now rediscovering. I will have to say, I am a huge fan of some things. I love cell phones, the internet and my big screen TV."

Ginny just smiled, she hated to admit that herself. Though she had never been on a computer before, she would have to get him to teach her to use his.

"Well it all came crashing down when I had thought that I was ready to propose to Rebecca."

Ginny couldn't help her look of shock. At this Harry laughed. "Yeah, I know she's a bit of a character. But I hope you are not going to make me admit why I went out with her. Chet already takes the mickey enough about that one. Well luckily Richard had been waiting in the wings and Rebecca being Rebecca wanted to be sure to compare our bank accounts before she said yes to anyone. Luckily I still had most of mine tied up at Gringotts. Well, I took some time and buried myself in the bottom of a few kegs, then with Hermione's help I got my head out of my arse and realized what I needed to do. So I called on McGonagall and took her up on her standing offer to teach Defense. After that, I think you know the rest of the story."

Ginny looked at him for a moment, as if to take it all in. "Thank you for telling me all of this. I really do appreciate it. I kind of understand why you did what you did. Not that I approve, but I think I understand. So I guess," she tried to finish, but Harry cut her off with something that Ginny had not expected.

"I want us to be friends," he said quickly before she could stop him.

Ginny was thrown a bit by this. She was certainly expecting him to say that he wanted them to get back together. Why else had he come back? She almost brought her hand up and knocked herself in the forehead. She really was thinking a lot of herself, wasn't she? When had she become so vain?

Harry continued, "A lot has happened to us in the years since I left. I want us to get to know each other again. Become friends like we were in Hogwarts. Just spend some time together. Is that ok?" he asked with great hope.

Ginny thought for a moment. Could she risk it? She knew that it would only be a matter of time before he wanted to take it further. Could she take turning him down and remain just friends?

"Harry, we are both really different people now," she said in doubt.

"I know that's why I think we should become friends again. I mean real friends who hang out and do things together, not just tolerate each other."

As soon as he flashed his oh-so-cute, pleading smile, Ginny knew she was sunk. "Ok," she said with a sigh, "Friends."

"Brilliant," said Harry with a big smile. He raised his tea mug to hers, "To friendship?"

Ginny met his in the air with hers, "To friendship."

Harry got up, "Come on let me give you a real tour of the house, it's pretty cool if I may say so myself. I've made some fantastic renovations in the last few months. You already know about the Quidditch pitch. I had Hermione help me with the charms on that one."

AN: Do you love me! I hope so, but don't get your hopes up too high. Harry still has plenty of time to screw things up. Do we honestly think that Ginny would let him on her good side that easily? Come on, she grew up with Fred and George! The girl knows how to hold a grudge.


	10. Breakfst at Harry's

Well hello all! I know you are probably reeling from shock. Again, this has been on my computer for ages, I actually have over 20 pages written. I just need to proof them and get them into chapters. I hope you all enjoy this. Just hang in there, I have a fantastic fight seen written between Harry and Ginny that ends with them throwing hexes at each other! And you all know what happens when our favorite couples emotions run at full steam! The wands get dropped and, well you know… no not that, Ginny's no slag! But they do have some fun.

See you again soon,

Lea Marie

Breakfast at Harry's

Harry took Ginny on a more detailed tour of the house. She was impressed. It was homey with a definite male touch. She could see her family's influence everywhere, from the grandfather clock to the many photographs adorning the walls.

They decided to settle in the den and watch TV for a bit. Even though it was two in the morning Harry knew there would be a cricket game on one of the sports networks.

Ginny had been hooked within minutes when they started watching the game. She asked Harry question after question, amazed at how the players handled themselves without brooms or magic.

They were sitting on the same sofa, she at one end and him at the other, comfortably enjoying each others company. Harry looked over to see why Ginny hadn't asked him a question about the game in the past ten minutes. He sighed and just stared for a moment when he saw that she was curled up and sound asleep.

He carefully lifted her up and carried her to the guest bedroom, enjoying the feel of her head snuggled into his chest.

He rummaged in a drawer and found one of the nightshirts that Hermione kept there. He was so tempted to changer her without magic, but in the end his good conscience won. He pulled out his wand and cast the spell, magically changing her dress for the nightshirt.

The next morning, as usual, Harry headed down to the solarium for breakfast. On his way down he peeked into the guest room and saw that Ginny was having a lie in, he figured she would join him when she was ready.

He had just about finished the sports section of the Muggle paper when she came in and sat down. He had thought she had looked incredibly sexy in the night shirt until he remembered who it belonged to, that killed the mood. "Good morning," he said with a smile, "did you sleep well?"

"I'll let you know as soon as you tell me how I ended up in this nightshirt," she said as she sat at the table and took the cup he offered her.

"It's Hermione's. She and Ron each keep some clothing here. That is the room they usually stay in and, yes I used magic to change you. I wouldn't think about risking your trust right now," he said, "Or my life," he finished with a little smirk.

"Thank you, I appreciate your chivalry. Did you make all of this?" she asked as she eyed the extensive breakfast before him and ignoring his last comment.

"No, though I do make a mean omelet. Kreacher saw that you were here and went a bit wild. I think he cooked everything you liked to eat while you were at Grimmuald Place."

"We should invite Ron over, he would have a field day," she laughed.

"I don't think the first sign of our reconciled friendship should be that you spent the night at my house, even if it was in the spare bedroom and completely platonic".

"You may be right. Maybe we should just have dinner together or something," she said with a giggle as she served herself some of the sausages that Kreacher had prepared.

"Sounds great," said Harry with a smile. He loved the fact that it was Ginny who had suggested another meeting.

"Do you have to get back to London?" he asked trying to sound very casual as he pushed his eggs around his plate.

"No, not really," she said, "I was actually just going to hang out and watch a Quidditch game on WSN."

Harry looked down at his breakfast and smiled. Would he be pushing it if he asked her to stay and watch it with him he wondered?

"What are you doing today?" he heard her ask.

"Actually, I was going to do pretty much the same thing," he hid his huge grin behind his coffee cup as he took a drink "though my night will also include a decent amount of pizza and beer."

"Well," she said with a sly smile as she put jam on her toast, "Since you have that huge TV and I am sure there are tons of leftovers from last night, why don't we see what Ron, Hermione and the girls are doing and make an evening of it?"

Harry now hid his smile behind his paper, "Sure, that sounds brilliant."

O O O

For a second night in a row the house was going to have a crowd, well at least more than its usual one guy one old house elf.

At around one o'clock, Harry had called Ron and Hermione and invited them over for dinner and the game.

They had almost declined his invitation because they had already invited Fred, George and their dates over to their house for dinner. Not wanting to lose an opportunity for a night with Ginny and afraid she would still be a bit hesitant of spending it alone with him, Harry decided to invite the entire crew over to his house.

Harry already knew that Fred and George were dating Meg and Hillary, Ginny's two best friends, so it should be a fun evening. The more the merrier right?

About two hours later Ron floo'd over to Harry's with some news. "Would you like the bad news? Or the really horrible news first?" he asked as he accepted a beer and flopped down in his favorite chair in front of the TV.

"Don't tell me you can't make it," asked Harry a bit disappointed. "I really don't think Ginny will feel that comfortable just hanging out with me all night watching the game. It will seem too much like a date."

Ron was now helping himself to the tray of snacks that Kreacher had popped into the room, "So what exactly is going on between you two anyway?" he asked around his mouth full of pie.

Harry smiled. He knew was only be a matter of time before Ron started in on him, "We have decided to be friends again," he said trying not to let his true feelings show.

"Friends?" asked Ron. "Harry I know you, you are way too in love with my sister to stay just friends."

"I know that you giant prat," said Harry as he practically threw an entire bowl of popcorn at his friend, "Let's just keep that between you me and Hermione ok? Ginny hasn't wanted to hex me in the past twenty-four hours and I think that's bloody brilliant. With how badly I've botched this up over the past few years, I'll take whatever I can get."

Ron laughed, "You are so whipped. How long are you willing to put up with this? She's pretty stubborn. She could string you along for years."

"Then I guess I'll have to wait years. I told you before mate, I've tried to be happy without her. It's just not possible."

"Whipped," snickered Ron.

"Yah, I know this," huffed Harry, "Now just give me the bad news."

"Well it seems that when I called Fred and George and told them about the change in plans, they thought it would be a good idea to call the rest of the family and invite them as well."

It was as if all the blood had drained from Harry's face. He picked up his wand transformed his beer into fire whisky downed it and fell back against the sofa.

"Do you think your brothers have any idea about?" he tried to ask.

"You being in love with Ginny," said Ron with a grin. "Oh, they've known."

"They've known!" shouted Harry. "How have they known?" he continued to shout.

"Harry you're like a bloody open book, anyone who has eyes can see you're mental for her. Anyway, I have a feeling the old Hogwarts grapevine was at work here. McGonagall and my mum still meet for tea and you know how news in my family travels. As soon as I even mentioned that you had invited Ginny and me over to watch the game the blokes went into defensive mode. I'm sorry mate. But if you hurt her again old Voldemort himself couldn't rise from the grave and save you from my brothers, not to mention my dad. I told you how bad it was, don't you remember? We hate to see our sister cry."

Harry sighed and took another drink. "Yes Ron I know I was I right git, a bloody fool. But hell, I wasn't even supposed to be alive after the war. I hadn't planned on anything past that, how was I supposed to think about developing a relationship with the one person I loved. All I knew was that everyone I had ever loved had died and there was no way I was going to let that happen to Ginny."

"I understand mate," said Ron, "really I do. But these are my brothers we're talking about and when it comes to our baby sister they don't mess around. You're lucky they haven't already shown up and started in on you."

"Are your mom and dad coming?" asked a hopeful Harry. He knew that if Mrs. Weasley was there she would at least prevent him from being killed.

"Yes, mum is coming so be prepared to be stuffed within an inch of your life. She hasn't fed you in six years so she has a lot of catching up to do. You know every time I have shown her a picture of you she's complained that you look malnourished."

"Well I am glad your parents are coming, I've been meaning to call on them and invite them over and explain some things."

"Don't worry mate, they understand," said Ron. "I mean they were still a bit hurt, but they understood that you needed to get away. They appreciated the letters and the gifts you sent them every Christmas, though mum was always upset that you would never let them tell Ginny about you."

Harry frowned and looked down at his glass, "I was only doing what I thought was best for her. A day hasn't gone by when I haven't regretted my decision. I wish I could go back in time and tell the old Harry to get his head out of his arse."


	11. The Weasley Invasion

I went back and realized that the past chapter was very short, and you have all been so patient. So enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews.

**The Weasley Invasion**

Several hours later Harry greeted Ginny at the floo. "Hi," he said with a smile as he helped her out and she dusted herself off.

"Are you ready for the invasion?" she asked.

"As I'll ever be," he said with a grimace. "They do know we are just friends right?" he asked.

Harry noticed that when he said this that Ginny's face sank a bit, he wondered if this meant that she was disappointed in his statement. He just smiled to himself and continued on through to the kitchen.

"I've explained it to them and they said that they were just coming over to watch the Quidditch match and to visit a long lost friend. They said they couldn't care less who I was shagging."

Harry's mind went into overdrive and his thoughts wandered for a second, images of he and Ginny in a tangle of sheets flashed before him.

"Harry?" she asked again.

"Huh?" he said snapping out of his thoughts.

"Do you want to wait down stairs for them?" she asked.

"Sure," he said absentmindedly "I'll show you my laptop and we can go online for a bit. Ron always gets a huge charge out of it."

O O O

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived by floo a little while later. Harry was glad they were early because he wanted the chance to talk with them alone to apologize.

Mrs. Weasley's eyes went wide at the sight of Harry's house. "Well, this is quite a big house for just one person isn't it?" she asked.

"Well, I don't plan on living alone all my life," he said and without even thinking his eyes darted over to Ginny who was walking ahead of them with her father. It was obvious that Mrs. Weasley had noticed this because her eyes lit up and she smiled.

"Oh, that's nice, dear," she said with a satisfactory smile.

Over the past few years she had secretly hoped that Ron was telling Harry about the men Ginny had been seeing. She had been waiting for him to come storming in and sweep Ginny off her feet, Harry Potter style, but unfortunately that never happened. Countless times she had to restrain herself from going to Harry herself and shaking some sense him.

Suddenly she found herself telling him that he looked too thin and that she was glad she had decided to bring some extra potato soup for him to keep on hand.

"Mrs. Weasley I have Kreacher to cook for me," he said half heartedly. He hadn't realized how much he had missed Mrs. Weasley's motherly henpecking and fussing.

"Nonsense," she said as she examined his hair to see if he needed a cut. "You will have to start joining us for Sunday dinner and I don't want to hear no for an answer."

"As long as we can have them here every once in a while, just to give you a break," he asked.

"Well, we'll talk about that another time. As long as you know you have a standing invitation for dinner anytime you want the company. I hate to think of you held up in this big house all alone."

At this Ginny piped in, "Don't forget Mum, we eat most of our meals at school now and it's hard to find a spot to be alone in that place."

Mrs. Weasley still didn't care to hear this, all she cared about was that her seventh son was home and she would be able to feed him at least once in a while.

As soon as Ron and Hermione arrived with the twins Mrs. Weasley switched immediately into grandmother mode putting her thoughts of Harry and Ginny on the back burner for just a little while.

Not much later Fred and George arrived with Meg and Hillary, which again put Mrs. Weasley in a delirious state being able to talk about their upcoming double wedding.

Soon Harry found himself surrounded by the entire Weasley family their significant others and their children. On the surface it was all hugs and kisses, everyone was so happy to see him. But when Harry looked closely he could feel the stares from each of the brothers burning holes into his skull.

When he heard Bill mention that they should go and try out Harry's Quidditch pitch, he knew he was done for. How convenient that they all brought their brooms. Harry wondered if they were planning on making his death look like a tragic home Quidditch accident.

He had never seen the brothers play such a rough game before. It was as if they were taking six years of aggression out in this game.

An hour later Harry was exhausted and barely hanging onto his broom. He was supposedly looking for the snitch with the twins and Bill on his team, if you could call it that. Basically it was them against him and they all knew it. The last straw was when one of the twins rammed him so hard while taking a whack at the bludger that he actually knocked Harry's glasses off and he lost his grip on the broom causing him to flip upside down then hang on for dear life, he had had enough.

He let go of his broom and apparated to the ground. The seven Weasley brothers landed in front of him. He could tell they were impressed, mid-air apparation was incredibly difficult. It had taken Harry several try's to get it right without ending up arse first on the ground. He knew they would never say anything, though he could see Bill's smirk of approval hidden underneath his gruff expression.

Harry put his hands on his knees to catch his breath as he accio'ed his glasses, "Ok, before you all start in on the interrogation let me clear a few things up." He took a look up at the six sets of eyes staring down at him. He knew it was best to get it all out in the open now. He would hopefully get them on his side because there was no way he could survive against them. Plus he was almost certain that Ron had told them everything anyway.

Harry stood up and stretched his back, "Yes, I was an absolute arse who deserves to be on the wrong end of Ginny's wand. So don't worry, I've been there and probably will be again. I left six years ago because I had no idea who I was supposed to be and didn't think that I deserved to be with someone as wonderful as your sister. I made another life for myself but after some serious thought have finally come to the conclusion that I can't truly be happy without your sister in my life. I am trying to win her back by becoming her friend and earning her trust."

Harry could tell they were listening and starting to believe what he had to say. "It has taken a little while but she is finally able to be in the same room with me without wanting to hex me and we are really are becoming friends again." At this Harry saw the look of doubt in her brothers faces.

"Yes, just friends," he repeated, trying to convince them.

"Harry," said George, "Meg told me about your Oxford reputation. You pretty much shagged anything in a skirt. How can we trust that you're not just out to bag Ginny?"

Harry tried not to show how angry he was, this was a very sensitive subject to him. "As a matter of fact George…"

Ron cut him off before he got out of hand, he was one of the few people who knew the truth about Harry and it had come to a complete shock to him as it was. "George, I told you we wouldn't have to worry about that."

This time Charlie spoke up, "Yah, Ron, how do we know that you're not sticking up for Harry just because he's your best mate?"

"What about all those women you dated at Oxford Harry?" asked Bill, "What about that woman you almost married, where do they fit in all of this?

Ron snickered, "Did you ever get a close look at Rebecca?"

"What did Hills say Fred?" asked George, "Ginny's twin without a conscience?"

"Without a soul, my good man," he answered with a smug grin.

They nodded in agreement.

Bill, Charlie and Percy looked at Harry, "That still does not solve the problem of our sister's virtue being at risk with Shag Master Harry here going after her," said Charlie.

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. They really didn't have a clue. "I AM NOT OUT JUST FOR A SHAG. I LOVE YOUR SISTER!" he fumed.

The brothers continued to ignore him.

"A bloke down at the Leaky told me that Harry had shagged half the birds at Oxford before he graduated," said Bill. "Of course Fleur said not to believe a word of it. But Harry's been gone for six years, who are we to know what he's been up to? He could have shagged half the Muggle population and we wouldn't be able to tell you."

Harry had heard just about enough speculation. "FOR YOUR BLOODY INFORMATION I HAVE NEVER SHAGGED ANYONE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!" he yelled.

"What?" they asked almost in unison.

His embarrassment to admit this returned. He hadn't even told Ron and Hermione the truth about his still intact virginity. It was one of the reasons Ron had such a hard time believing that Harry was truly in love with his sister.

"I have never had sex," he admitted quietly in a much calmer voice. He then knew it was time to let out the big guns, "I think I've been waiting for Ginny."

Every single one of the Weasley men looked completely gob smacked.

Harry looked directly at Bill knowing he was one of the few that was capable of performing it on Harry, "I'll let you use legilimens if you wish, if you really want proof. But it's the God's, honest truth."

Bill looked him directly in the eyes and simply said, "I believe you." He walked up and shook Harry's hand. "Good luck, mate," he said with a smile, "you're going to need it."

"Thanks," said Harry. "She's worth it."

Once Bill was convinced everyone else seemed to fall in line. Of course this now meant that they were able to take liberties and tease the bloody hell out of him for being a twenty seven year old virgin.

"I still can't believe you've held out this long?" asked Ron. "I think I would go bloody mental."

Harry just looked at him and smiled, "Creativity is the key to happiness."

"You must be one real creative bloke," joked Charlie.

Harry just sort of grinned, "I've never had any complaints."

Bill smacked him off the back of the head, "Remember who you're talking to mate, our baby sister is the one you want to get creative with and there are certain things we really don't want to know."

Point taken," said Harry trying to put on a serious face, but really he was just ecstatic that his limbs were still intact.

"Yah but what about all those birds that say they've shagged you?" asked Fred.

"Come on," he laughed, "Men are not the only ones who want bragging rights. I was like a prize pony that they all wanted to ride and when things didn't go their way they created their own storis. I couldn't stop what they said about me and be honest, would you deny it if no one knew the truth?"

"He's got a point," said Fred and George with identical smiles.

Harry just smiled. He was grateful that Ginny's brothers were not going to kill, but he was still quite nervous about them knowing. The odds of them all keeping heir mouths shut about this were very slim and he still had quite a bit of time ahead of him before he thought it would be safe to make the next move."


	12. Of Letters and Shag Masters

**Of Letters and Shag Masters**

"So what have my favorite girls been up to?" asked Harry when he and Ron joined Ginny, Hermione and the babies, back inside. He went straight over to their pram and started cooing at them, completely bypassing Ginny and Hermione.

"You know Harry, before I had the twins people actually used to say hello to me first,"

Harry went over and hugged Hermione, "Sorry Hermione. How are you today?"

"Exhausted, and I feel like a human dairy, but happy."

Harry grimaced and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I really don't know how to respond to that. So, I'll just offer my services as best friend and diaper changer since you have the whole feeding thing taken care of."

"Thanks Harry," smiled Hermione, "You're a real gem, and don't think that I won't take you up on that promise. I'm dying to watch you change one. You do know that they don't use disposable diapers, right?

"Please tell me there is a spell, right?" he asked, hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with messy cloth diapers and pins.

Hermione laughed, "Yes, there is a spell though I would love to see you do it without magic."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He was more than happy to help out with the girls, as long as he could use magic to change them.

Ginny just sat back and enjoyed the scene. She found herself imagining what Harry would be like as a father? Would he be willing to change the diapers of his own children?

She mentally slapped herself. Why did she need to worry about Harry pushing the relationship further, she was doing a fine job herself.

She took a deep breath and strengthened her resolve. She would not fall in love with Harry Potter again. She was over him. She only wanted to be his friend, not his wife. The name Ginny Potter sprang before her minds eye and she stamped her foot to make it disappear.

"You ok, Ginny," asked Hermione snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Spider," said quickly, secretly praying that Harry's legilimency skills had not improved over the years.

During one of the game breaks Ginny went home to pack. She floo'd back to her apartment to grab some things so that she could spend the night at Ron and Hermione's. She wanted to give them a break and agreed to get up with the twins that evening so that they could get some much needed sleep.

Harry met her at the floo. "Are you all set?" he asked as he helped her from the fireplace and she dusted herself off.

"All set. Hey do you mind if I check out your study?" she asked. "I'd love to get a closer look at your book collection."

"You certainly can. Only a fraction of it is from me, the rest is all compliments of Hermione, my mother, Sirius, Mad Eye and Remus. It seems they each wanted to share a bit of their book collection with me and it is all here. Though thanks to Sirius, Mad Eye and Remus there is a complete shelf that I have to keep under magical restraint."

"Wow," said Ginny "You'll have to show those to me some time. But for now could I just borrow some light reading? I have a feeling I won't be getting much sleep tonight and babies don't make much conversation."

Harry gave a light chuckle, "Sure. Do you need me to help you out?" he asked.

She could tell that he really wanted to get back to the game so she let him off the hook, "No, I think I can manage, why don't you go join the others and I'll find my way back. If not I'll just send my patronus out."

"The house isn't that big Gin," he laughed as he made his way down the hallway toward the den. "I'll see you in a few. Don't let the minotaur get you!"

"Ha ha, funny Potter," she said as she went off in the other direction.

She found her way to the study and started skimming along the shelves trying to find something interesting to read. She pulled out several books and put them on the table then started looking for a few others.

When she was looking up on a shelf she thought she recognized one of her favorite titles so she used her wand to get it. As the book came floating towards her she noticed something fall down in its place.

Curious she pulled over a ladder and looked up on the shelf. What she found almost made her fall right off. There sat a stack of letters addressed to her, wrapped in a very familiar green satin hair ribbon.

She couldn't resist, she took the letters from the shelf and sat down in one of the leather wing back chairs by the fireplace. She was just about to pull the ribbon free when she heard voices in the hallway.

She quickly got up and stuffed the letters and the book she had chosen into her overnight bag and made her way to the den being sure to drop her bag off by the floo on the way there.

As she was walking down the hallway she couldn't help but overhear the conversation that was going on in the den. She stopped to listen for just a moment. What she heard almost brought her to her knees.

"Who would have thought that we had our very own Shag Master right here in this room," said Fred jokingly.

Ginny figured her mother was still in the kitchen otherwise she would have heard her scold him for using such a term. Who was he talking about anyway?

George piped in, "I think we should start a new campaign, instead of 'Chosen One or The Man who Conquered' the Wizarding community should address his highness as the Royal Oxford Shag Master."

HARRY! A shag master! The master of shags! Ginny felt herself getting light headed. She knew he dated a lot while at University. That was made obvious by the number of women he paraded in front of her while she was dating Chet. But a shag master?

"Ginny, what are you doing lurking in the hallway?" asked Molly.

The startled her causing her to actually jump. "My goodness mother, I am not lurking, per say. I was just waiting a bit before I went in that's all," she said as she turned to look at her. "I was thinking of helping you in the kitchen and I wanted to hear if the game had continued first." She smiled in spite of herself she could always come up with a brilliant cover.

Molly smiled, "Well, I am just about finished so why don't you just go ahead in and enjoy the rest of the game." She gave her a quick hug and a kiss, smiled sweetly at her wonderfully thoughtful daughter that she had raised, then shuffled back to the kitchen to finish up. She had never been in Harry's kitchen before and was having a bit of fun trying out some of the Muggle gadgets.

Ginny walked briskly into the room avoiding eye contact with Harry and giving Hermione a look that said _you will fill me in later._

Throughout the game she couldn't help but notice her brothers giving Harry curious looks. They were probably in awe of the number of women he had shagged. She risked giving him a quick look. Who wouldn't want to shag him? She almost regretted not taking Chet up on his many offers. She was suddenly depressed and angry with her mother for instilling her sense of values. She was one of her only friends who had waited this long. Well really she was one of the few that was still single. Most of her friends had already married, though she could almost guarantee that they had not waited either.

The remainder of the evening she found herself preoccupied with thoughts of the letters and Harry's status as the Oxford Shag Master. When she was saying good-bye to Harry she noticed a slight discouraged look in his eyes. He must have noticed how quiet she was and thought she was rethinking their friendship. She plastered a smile on her face realizing that Harry's conquests should not have any bearing on their friendship? Well she could at least pretend it didn't bother her.

Before she jumped in the fireplace she shocked herself by reaching over and giving him a firm hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Harry thanks for the lovely time. We'll have to do it again real soon ok?" she asked then looked into his eyes until he gave her a quick smile.

He gave her a peck on the cheek then in a rush of green flames she was gone.

O O O

Around three in the morning Ginny found herself up with the girls. They had already been up at 11:00 pm and were hungry again. As she fed them each a bottle she started thinking about Harry.

Blocking out the latest bit of news she realized that he really was different, but not in a bad way. He was so easy going now that he was able to focus on his own life and not the destruction of a dark wizard. He laughed and smiled a lot, which brought out the cutest dimple in his cheek. And if she had thought he was cute back in school, now he was downright hot. She couldn't help herself from feeling comfortable around him. They had practically grown up together, then there was also the fact that they had once been in love. She certainly was in a pickle. How to remain just friends with someone she had once wanted to spend the rest of her life.

She looked down at the pile of letters in front of her. She noticed that many of them had been written while Harry, Ron and Hermione had been out looking for Horcruxes. She also noticed one that was dated as recent as four months ago. She knew that she couldn't read them yet, that burst of courage had left her.

She heard a noise which brought her out of her thoughts. She looked down and saw that Molly, at least that's who she thought it was, was asleep. Little Emma was staring widely at her, waiting patiently for her sister to finish so that she could get her own bottle. Ginny was absolutely amazed at just how much they were like Hermione. They were such well behaved little babies. You could already tell that they were brilliant. Whether or not they were like Fred and George remained to be seen.

She put Molly in her pram and picked up Emma and gave her a bottle. When she looked up she noticed Hermione standing in the doorway.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be getting some sleep?" asked Ginny.

"I hear them fuss and I automatically wake up. I thought I would keep you company. Want me to feed her?" she asked.]

"No, you made enough bottles, let's not let them go to waste. Let the dairy rest for the night."

Hermione laughed, "I am actually going to make a few more bottles then. As soon as I hear them cry my body goes into overdrive."

She came back a few minutes later just as Ginny was putting Emma in the pram next to her sister.

"You really are good at that," said Hermione as she sat down and poured a cup of tea. She could tell that Ginny had a lot on her mind and wanted to talk, but she also knew she had to be patient. She then noticed the letters.

"Thanks," said Ginny as she absentmindedly stirred her tea with her wand.

"You and Harry's friendship seems to have finally taken off," commented Hermione, hoping this would help her friend start the conversation.

"Yeah, he's been great, we have a lot of fun together," said Ginny still a bit lost in her thoughts as she looked at the letters.

"But," asked Hermione, "That's not what you are worried about. Is it?" she asked as she nodded her head toward the pile on the table.

Ginny looked at her friend, "I found them yesterday while I was looking for a book in Harry's study. He kept them right next to my favorite book. He started writing them while you were away looking for Horcruxes didn't he?"

"They helped him a lot. It was his way of feeling close to you. Don't tell him I know this, but he would stare at the Marauder's Map for hours and watch your dot move around the castle while writing to you." She took Ginny's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I've never read them, but I watched him pour his heart out to you Ginny, he missed you so much."

"Why didn't he ever send them?" she asked.

"You know he could never have risked sending them to you while we were in hiding so he was going to give them to you after the battle. Then after," she looked down ashamed, "After everything he had to do. He wanted you to go on with your life. He thought you deserved more, someone who wasn't a killer. He didn't think he was worth your love."

Ginny looked shocked. How could he have ever thought those things? "Why haven't you ever mentioned this to me before? Why now!" Ginny was starting to feel a bit hurt and was trying to maintain her temper. They had just put the girls in their cribs and were back in the kitchen talking, but she still wanted to keep her voice down.

Hermione had tears in her eyes, "He made me swear an oath Ginny. I had to promise never to speak to you about any of this. But I guess that bond is broken now that things have changed." Hermione took a deep breath, knowing that she had already said too much.

"What has changed Hermione?" she asked staring at her friend trying to get her to talk. "Hermione what is going on?" she asked frustrated with her best friend and sister-in-law. She was so confused.

Hermione looked at her friend took both of her hands and looked her straight in the eyes trying hard to get her message across. Knowing that she was saying too much but knowing she was giving them the nudge they need.

"It's taken Harry six years to come to the conclusion that he needs certain things in his life to be truly happy. He felt empty inside when most blokes would have been deliriously happy with the life he had." She looked at Ginny and laughed, "And now I watch him smile like a fool when you treat him no better than a common garden gnome."

"What are you saying Hermione?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"Ginny, I think you know why Harry came back to the magical world. Just give him the chance to be your friend, that's all he really wants."

"Is that all he really wants?" asked Ginny.

"What did you think? That he would come back, profess his love for you and expect you to walk down the aisle the next day?" said Hermione with a laugh.

"No, of course not," said Ginny as she fingered through the letters.

Hermione took a deep breath and looked at the letters again, "Gin, Harry is and enigma that even I cannot understand. Just give him a chance and be his friend. There is no harm in that is there?"

Ginny looked at her and shook her head.

"Great. Now my only other advise would be to wait a bit before reading any of those letters," she said and as she tapped them.

Ginny looked up almost surprised, "Why?" she asked.

"Ginny, think about it," said Hermione, "Harry poured his heart out to you on each and every page. I can imagine they contain some pretty romantic stuff. You may just find yourself falling in love with him all over again. That is, if you haven't already."

Ginny just looked at her crossly got up from the table kissed her on the top of the head and trotted off to bed to get another restless night of sleep.

O O O

She went back to Hogwarts with a heavy mind. She was glad that she and Harry were friends, but that was also what was worrying her the most.

It was easy to deal with him as long as she hated him, she could keep him at a distance with no problems. There were no reasons to have real contact with him.

Now that they were friends she saw him on a daily basis. They both lived in Gryffindor tower and ate most of their meals together at the teachers table in the Great Hall.

She had decided not to read the letters. She just retied them in their ribbon and hid them in her trunk. She needed to call upon all her strength to maintain their friendship. She knew that Harry would some day push it further. She just had to make sure she was strong enough to keep her resolve when he did and if she had read those letters she would certainly cave to any of his advances.


	13. The Promise Revealed

AN: Hello there, I am back from vacation! I had this ready to go a while ago, but of course I had this inspiration and had to add another 4 pages to this chapter. I now have to restructure the next 4 chapters that I already have written! But I love what I added, so it will be worth it.

**The Promise Revealed**

Harry watched Ginny enter the Great Hall for breakfast Monday morning. She looked beautiful in her flowing jade robes, though by the way she was chewing on her bottom lip, he could tell she was worried about something.

"Good morning," he said pleasantly across the table. "Did you have a good visit at Ron and Hermione's?"

Ginny plastered on a fake smile, "Fabulous," she forced out. "They invited us to dinner this weekend. They still don't feel comfortable floo'ing or appirating with the girls, even though mum and dad did it with us all the time."

"They'll get the hang of it all soon. I know I would be nervous if it were me."

Ginny couldn't help the vision that flashed before her eyes. There he was standing there holding their infant child in front of the floo, not wanting to chance it.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Are you ok, Gin?" he asked at her puzzled expression.

"Yeah, fine. Just a bit of a headache, is all. I'll go see Poppy after breakfast."

O O O

The following Friday, Ginny walked into Harry's classroom ready to discuss how they would be traveling to Ron and Hermione's for the weekend. What she found almost knocked her to her knees.

There she was, Romilda Vane, sitting upon Harry's desk wearing a very revealing set of robes and giggling for all she was worth.

"Oh, Harry you are such a card," she giggled. "Why don't you just floo Ron and tell him you have other plans?"

"Really Romilda," he said politely as he searched around the room trying to find some type of excuse to get ride of her, "It would be quite rude of me to break my weekend plans at such a short notice." He almost sighed in relief when he spotted Ginny, grateful that she came by, hopefully to discuss their weekend plans.

"Gin, look whose stopped by to visit," he called to her, hoping that she was ready to leave a bit early. Was that a look of anger in her eyes? He couldn't help but notice how Ginny was staring daggers at Romilda. He knew that Ginny didn't like her back in school. She didn't like it at all that Romilda wasn't shy about letting everyone know that she would steel her boyfriend from her. But if Ginny didn't want to have a romantic relationship with him, wouldn't she be excited about the prospect of Romilda being here to steel him away?

Part of him quickly posed the idea of making Ginny jealous by flirting with Romilda, but the consequences were too great. If he showed any interest what so ever, Romilda would never leave him alone.

He gave Ginny a pleading look while Romilda's back was to him. Luckily she smiled in return letting him know that she would come to his rescue.

"Romilda," called Ginny, trying to sound pleasantly surprised "How nice of you to drop by, I was just talking to your younger sister the other day. She said you wrote often, I am sure she will be just thrilled that you came to join her for Hogsmede weekend."

"Oh, yes," replied Romilda in her sickeningly sweet voice, "I can't wait to see her."

This one little sentence told Ginny everything she needed to know. Romilda had come straight to Harry's classroom and hadn't even seen her sister yet. She probably didn't really even have plans with her. She was probably hoping that she and Harry would spend the weekend together.

"You ready to go Gin?" asked Harry, hoping this would convince Romilda that he did indeed have plans.

"Sure," said Ginny "I just have to stop off at my apartment to get rid of these robes and pick up my overnight bag. She was just about to ask him where he wanted to floo from when he interrupted her.

"Oh, great," he said quickly, "I'll just make the switch at my place on the way and we can floo from your apartment."

He was almost pleading with her, how could she refuse him? "Sure thing," she said with what she hoped was a convincing smile.

"Well it was really great that you stopped by Romilda," said Harry as he motioned for her to stand up and exit his classroom. "I hope you and your sister have a great weekend in Hogsmede. You should stop by the joke shop all the kids love it there."

Romilda looked very put out as Harry ushered her out the door and into the hallway. He locked the door with his wand, gave her a quick handshake grabbed Ginny and practically dragged her down the corridor.

"I so owe you one, thank you so much," he said as they turned the corner.

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "You should have seen the look in your eyes, it was pure terror. I don't even think a Death Eater has ever made you look that way."

"Sure, laugh now," he said. "You didn't see the look in her eyes when she first got there. She was like an animal going in for the kill. I'm lucky I made it out of there alive."

"I'm sure she came very well prepared," laughed Ginny, "She didn't offer you any sweets, did she?"

"Ha, ha, no. But she was practically undressing me with her eyes and it was giving me the creeps."

Ginny couldn't help the laugh that escaped her, "I hate to tell you this but Romilda is one of your true die hard fans. She kept your fan club going, of course as president, and held candle light vigils in your honor. I am sure she's convinced herself that when you came back you would notice all of her hard work and repay her by marrying her on the spot."

Harry looked down, noticing that their hands were still intertwined from when he rushed her out of his classroom, he couldn't help but smile. Unfortunately, as soon as Ginny noticed this she blushed scarlet and let go, smoothly reaching up to adjust her book bag.

Harry frowned at the loss of contact, but continued on, "Well she is sorely mistaken. It would have been nice to hear that the silly fan club had dissolved and everyone had lost interest."

Ginny just smirked, "I'll have to take you by your 'shrine' one day. It's pretty creepy."

"That's ok, I'll pass."

When they got to Harry's, Ginny didn't even think twice before she went right in. It wasn't until he went over to his closet and pulled out a new shirt and a pair of jeans did she get nervous. Was he going to change in front of her? It's not like she hadn't seen most of it before, but she really didn't think she could take it now.

"Do you mind if I change real quick?" he asked.

"No, not at all," she said desperately hoping that her voice was not shaking.

She just stood there for a few minutes wondering what to do until Harry spoke up.

"I know we're both adults and all, but would you mind?" he asked as he made a motion for her to turn around.

"Oh," she said feeling her face turn red. "Sorry."

"Not at all," he said with a tone of amusement in his voice. Ginny heard him take off his shirt and tie and then his slacks. Was the room getting warmer? She had to close her eyes and focus to keep herself from turning around. Finally she heard him pull on his jeans and a new shirt.

"You ready to go?" he asked from so close behind her that his breath felt hot on her ear. She closed her eyes again as slight shivers ran down her spine.

"Sure," she forced out, "Let's get going."

They floo'd to Ginny's apartment then apparated to Ron and Hermione's. Ginny was grateful for the distraction of the babies

Had he called Romilda? Nah, not even Harry could be that desperate. It just seemed that every time she turned around there was something else to remind her of how she felt about him, or had felt about him.

O O O

Ginny and Hermione sat in the back yard chatting over a glass of wine. They had given the twins over to Ron and Harry letting them know that they were in need of some girl talk and were not to be disturbed.

The men baulked at the responsibility at bit before Hermione reminded them that they were both intelligent men and if they couldn't handle two drooling infants than they each needed a good smack in the head by Molly.

"I just can't believe Romilda," complained Ginny. "That girl just doesn't know when to quit. Harry is obviously not interested in her yet she still insists on throwing herself at him. You should have seen what she was wearing. I think my bikini covers more. I don't' know what charm she was using because she wasn't wearing a bra and her breasts were practically bulging out of her top and there was no way that scrap of material was holding them in."

She suddenly noticed that Hermione was chuckling at her, "What?" she asked.

"A bit jealous Ginny?" she asked as she poured her friend another glass.

"No. I am not jealous," she insisted.

Hermione continued to laugh.

"I'm not," she whined.

"I'm just saying," said Hermione with a wide smile. "That if you really didn't want to get back together with Harry you wouldn't be concerned about who he was dating. I would think you would welcome Romilda's dedication, even help her out."

Ginny got a bit agitated. "Speaking of that," she asked, "was Harry really a Shag Master at Oxford?"

Hermione was about to reassure her but Ginny just continued with her rant. "I mean, not that I could blame them. I've even thought about it from time to time. He's probably incredible. I mean not that I would know the difference, but still. Did he really shag all those women?"

Hermione's eyes went wide with shock, "You've been thinking about shagging Harry?"

Ginny blushed, though with the amount of wine she had consumed it could just be a light buzz. "I know you don't want to hear this but back in school we shared some memorable times in the broom closets. He really was quite talented, he was the first guy to make me, you know," she said with deeper blush.

"You're kidding me?" asked Hermione in shock.

"Yes, well it's obvious he's gained a bit more experience if he's slept with the entire Oxford female population. It just really bothers me because we were both virgins when we were together and I just never thought he would lose it before me."

Hermione reached over and took Ginny's hand. She could tell that her friend was sincerely upset. "So you are upset that you're a virgin and he's not?"

"Sort of," she replied. She took a deep breath and sighed. She had never planned on telling anyone this, but it was tearing her apart inside. "I am more upset because he promised me that we would lose it together. We were going to be each other's first and only. He said he couldn't imagine sharing it with anyone but me. But I guess that's all changed."

Ginny wiped at the few tears that had fallen.

"I'm just being silly," she admitted. "Why would he wait for me?"

"I thought you said he never promised you that you would get back together after the war?" asked Hermione.

"He was hesitant because he didn't think he was going to survive the battle. I was convinced that he would and thought if he knew I was waiting for him it would give him a reason to come back. So we talked about it and made the promise to each other. The only condition was that if he didn't survive I had to go on with my life and find someone new."

"But he did survive," said Hermione with an understanding frown.

"Yes he did, and I was the fool and waited for him to come back to me. I thought he just needed time to get himself together. I was hoping he would find out that I was still waiting for him."

Hermione interrupted her, "Why didn't you just tell me all of this!" she shouted. "I would have been a bit more insistent with him. We knew he needed time to get his head together and because neither of you said anything about getting back together afterwards we didn't push him to come back."

"No Hermione, you did the right thing. Harry needed time to think about himself for a change. He had always sacrificed so much, putting us all before his own feelings for so long. I didn't want him to worry about me or our silly promise."

Ginny looked up when she heard the men approaching with the girls.

"Well, I hope you girls have enjoyed your talk because these two would like to join you," said Ron as he handed a fussing Molly to Hermione. "Meaning, they are both hungry and we are out of bottles. Fortunately for us, nursing babies is something that magic cannot help me with."

"Come here my little peanuts," said Hermione as she took Molly and Emma and settled them in to nurse.

"It's ok," said Ginny as she got up and looked away, not wanting them to see her tear stained face. "We were about done anyway."

"Well," said Ron looking a bit guilty, "we actually came over for another reason. I just got a fire call from the coach."

"Here it comes," said Hermione with a knowing smile.

"He called an emergency practice at bloody 6:00 am tomorrow. So I need to call it a night or I will be complete garbage tomorrow, the last time that happened I had to run the bleachers for two hours."

"And that," said Harry, "is unfortunately why we need get going Ginny."

She plastered a smile on her face and turned to Hermione, "Do you want me to stay so I can get up wit the girls?" she asked.

"Actually," said Hermione, "they've been sleeping through the night for about a week now."

Harry looked tentatively at Ginny, curious as to why she looked so distraught. "I was thinking of going back to my house to finish watching the cricket match." He blushed with anticipation. "Do you want to join me?"

Ginny felt Hermione staring at her, willing her to answer. She knew that she should forget about his promise to her and just continue to be his friend. He had surely forgotten about it, so why should she dwell? She was determined not to get involved with him, so why shouldn't she go and enjoy the cricket game?

Her heart felt heavy but she forced herself to smile and give a friendly, "Sure that would be great."

O O O

They floo'd to the house and went straight to the den. Ginny had only been sitting on the sofa for few minutes when she decided that her nerves were way too pent up to sit there and watch the game.

She was about to say something when Harry interrupted her thoughts. He had been watching her and knew that something was on her mind. "Hey, this game is turning out to be kind of boring, do you want to go and fly for a bit?" he asked.

Ginny smiled, "That would be great," she said in relief.

They went out to the pitch and went straight up, of course Ginny was on his Firebolt and he was on his new Nimbus. He could tell that something was bothering her and he knew that getting her out on the pitch would help her with whatever it was. He was just hoping that he wasn't the problem that had her so preoccupied.

O O O

As soon as she got into the air she felt 100% better, it amazed her how well he knew her. It actually frightened her sometimes.

She had grabbed the charmed quaffle and by the time she had scored her sixth goal she was feeling fantastic.

Sometimes she wondered why she hadn't gone on to play professionally. Gwenog Jones had approached her several times after graduation, but she was too depressed to go to they try outs. There was also the fact that she didn't want to leave her mum for long periods. She knew that if she was a professional player she would be gone for months at a time. She decided her mother needed her more than she needed to go and play Quidditch for the Harpies.

It still didn't change one thing though, flying was one of her favorite things on earth and Quidditch was still the best solution to most of life's problems.

About an hour later she had completely forgotten about her worry's and was pretty tired from a great workout.

Harry could sense the change in her and was relieved. He also thought a good strong cup was what he needed to soothe his aching muscles. Ginny had been flying pretty hard and he had kept up with her the entire time. He decided right then that he should definitely start running more often. Ever since he started teaching he had let his normal routine slip and he was feeling the results in his aching legs.

"I'm beat, how about a cup?" he asked. "I am sure that Kreacher has some of those M&M biscuits for you. I think he starts making them as soon as you pass through the door."

"Sounds good," she agreed with a smile.

Harry caught his breath. At that moment she was looking absolutely angelic with her flushed complexion and sparkling eyes. Her hair had even worked its way from its loose pony tail and was wildly flowing down her shoulders. The only problem was that the things he wanted to do to her were far from angelic. He literally had to restrain himself from sweeping over grabbing her off of her broom and ravishing her in the sand below.

He almost fell off his broom when she licked her lips in response to his statement about the cookies.

Even though he used the excuse that he needed to find his snitch (it was already in his pocket) he was still in a difficult predicament when he got to the ground. The vision of her just wouldn't vacate his mind. It also seemed as if flying had somehow made the flowery fragrance she wore permeate the air, because when he got near her it practically overwhelmed him.

He did his best to walk behind her. When he had gotten dressed for the evening he had put on his favorite jeans. Though these were the ones that he thought looked best on him, they also made it impossible to conceal his arousal. If she even glanced sideways once she would certainly know what he was thinking.

Luckily they got to the kitchen without incident and he poked his wand at the kettle. He then used the excuse of rummaging through the pantry for the biscuits to covertly cast a concealment charm on himself. There was not a morbid thought in the universe that would help him, so the charm would have to do.

Once the tea was ready they took it into the den and put the game back on, luckily he had thought to record it.

They both sat on the sofa. Harry couldn't help but notice that Ginny had sat a bit closer than she had in recent weeks. He forced himself to relax and focus on the game, the only problem was that with her sitting so close the game was the last thing he wanted to think about.

Ginny was not completely oblivious to Harry's problem. She herself was feeling the aftereffects of the exhilarating fly and found the stirring low in her belly unsettling. Her eyes were not obeying her commands and she found herself looking at his jeans more often than she needed.

Of course it didn't help that while they were flying his thin t-shirt had pulled tight against his chest, making sure to outline every ripple that his muscles made. Now that they were sitting snugly on the sofa she couldn't help but notice that his hair was a complete mess and she was just dying to run her fingers through it.

They were each trying so hard to focus on the game that neither one of them noticed how hard they were each trying to avoid each other.

Meanwhile, their own bodies were betraying them and somehow within minutes they managed to end up sitting right next to each other, their shoulders barely touching.

Ginny turned to ask him a question, somehow still oblivious as to just how close they were.

Harry turned as soon as he heard her start to speak.

Their bodies moved on their own accord, their desires taking over rational thought and their lips met for the briefest of seconds.

Ginny jumped back so fast that she practically fell off the sofa. She got up and immediately started pacing.

"Ginny I am so sorry," exclaimed Harry. "It's all my fault," he started babbling, "It's just that out on the pitch you looked so bloody gorgeous and you smelled so good that I've been having a bit of a problem getting things back under control."

Ginny was about to tell him not to worry about it when Harry said something that took her completely off guard.

"I promise Ginny, it was not my intention to bring you back here and try something."

"What," she snapped.

"Honestly, Gin, I promise I tried to stop myself."

Her Weasley temper got the best of her, "YOU PROMISED, HARRY!" she yelled, every word from her talk with Hermione haunting her thoughts.

"DON'T YOU DARE PROMISE ME ANYTHING EVER AGAIN!" she continued. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A PROMISE MEANS."

Harry's mouth opened and closed in shock. He didn't know what to say as he watched Ginny storm out of the room.

He snapped to his senses and followed after her. Luckily he reached her before she got to the floo.

"Ginny wait. We need to talk about this!" he called.

She stopped and turned on him, "TALK!" she yelled. "YOU WANT TO TALK TO ME! WHY AM I SO LUCKY! OBVIOUSLY WHILE YOU WERE AT OXFORD YOU DID SO MUCH MORE THAN TALK WITH YOUR MANY CONQUESTS! WHY START NOW! WHY DON'T WE JUST GO HOP RIGHT INTO BED! I WOULDN'T WANT YOUR PRECIOUS REPUTATION AS THE OXFORD SHAG MASTER TO GET SOILED! I MUST BE THE ONLY GIRL IN ENGLAND THAT YOU HAVEN'T SHAGGED!"

He opened his mouth to speak but shut it quickly when he saw the dangerous look in her eyes.

"WHICH HONESTLY HARRY MAKES ME LAUGH BECAUSE WASN'T I THE ONE YOU MADE THAT PROMISE TO SO LONG AGO? OR MAYBE I WAS JUST KIDDING MYSELF THINKING THAT YOU ACTUALLY LOVED ME AND YOU WERE SINCERE WHEN YOU TOLD ME WE WOULD BE EACH OTHERS FIRST AND ONLY! BUT I GUESS NOT, BECAUSE IF YOU REALLY HAD LOVED ME IT WOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN YOU SIX BLOODY YEARS TO COME BACK."

She took a deep breath and continued, "YOU KNOW WHAT I THINK! MAYBE THE MUGGLES GOT TIRED OF YOUR SHITE AND SO YOU DECIDED TO START IN ON THE WITCH POPULATION! WHAT, WAS I FIRST ON YOU LIST? OR WAS I JUST THE MOST CONVENIENT BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT I WOULD JUST ROLL OVER AND THANK MY LUCKY STARS THAT YOU CAME BACK TO ME? WELL YOU KNOW WHAT HARRY, I FEEL ANYTHING BUT LUCKY RIGHT NOW! MY LIFE WAS JUST GREAT UNTIL YOU DECIDED TO COME BACK AND CONFUSE THE HELL OUT OF ME!"

Harry was completely dumbstruck, he stood in shock as he watched her step into the fireplace and the swirl of green flames engulfed her. He must be brilliant to have let this happen again.

This time he wasn't going to let her get away so easy. He stepped into the fireplace to floo to her flat, if she wasn't there, he would keep going till he found her.


	14. Partying with Friends

**_PARTYING WITH FRIENDS_**

When Harry entered Ginny's flat he found her two roommates and her brothers sitting at the kitchen table talking.

"We tried to talk to her mate," said George.

"She would have nothing to do with it," finished Fred.

"We're so sorry Harry," said Meg. "We didn't know. We just assumed all the rumors were true."

Hillary walked over and gave Harry a quick hug. She took his hand and guided him to the table, "Have a seat. I'll fix you a cup."

Harry gladly took the cup and relaxed into it's warmth. "Thank you all for understanding. I just wish Ginny would give me the chance to explain."

Everyone looked up when they heard Ginny enter the room, "Maybe she will," she said as she leaned up against the doorframe.

"I think that is our queue," said Fred and George in unison. Each grabbed their respective girlfriend and briskly left the flat.

Ginny wiped at her eyes then went over and made herself a cup of tea. Harry just sat and watched, thinking of what to say when she finally sat down.

Ginny stood at the counter and stirred her tea, "I want you to know that no matter what you say, the most I am willing to give you is friendship."

Harry felt his heart break. He knew he deserved her anger, but he was still hoping that one day it would develop into something stronger.

He waited for her to sit, "I understand. I am just glad you are willing to talk."

Ginny looked across the table at him, "Well the first thing we need to do is understand that the kiss was a big mistake. That should have never happened."

Harry didn't say anything. Their brief kiss was keeping his hopes alive.

"Second, is that I want to apologize for overreacting afterwards. It shouldn't matter to me whether it was a promise or not, I was dragging our past into it and that was unfair. That relationship is behind us now. We should focus on our friendship."

He really felt himself foolish for not seeing this before. Of all things, their promise to one another should have been the first thing he reassured her of when he had returned. He knew by the comments she made at the house, he had a lot of explaining to do.

"Ginny, did you overhear your brothers and me talking the other day?" he asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't matter," she protested.

"Yes, it does matter Ginny. I hope you understand that you did not hear the entire story. You know how your brothers like to tease. Well that name was their way of teasing me about something. What you've heard, all those rumors, it's all lies."

"Harry, it doesn't matter," she insisted.

"IT MATTER'S TO ME GIN," he shouted. He took a deep breath to compose himself, "I'm sorry for shouting, but it does matter. All those women, yes I may have dated some of them but that was all. I've never slept with any of them, with anyone actually."

He took her hands and looked deeply into her eyes, "Ginny your trust means the world to me and I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it. Please believe be when I tell you that my promise to you was sincere."

She let go of his hands and stood up from the table. "You mean to tell me that you've never?" she asked as she refilled her tea mug. She didn't think she could handle looking into his emerald green eyes while asking him such a delicate question.

"Not yet," he said with a hint of smile to his voice. He stood up and refilled his own mug, "Are we friends again," he asked. "I hate it when we fight."

She leaned back against the counter and smiled, "Of course we're friends Harry. I don't like it when we fight either."

Ginny was trying her best to look unaffected by his admission. But Merlin's boxers! Had Harry really waited all this time? Was he expecting her to live up to their promise? After all, she had gotten angry when she thought he had broken the promise. Was she just kidding herself with this friendship charade? If she looked deep inside was she going to discover that she wanted to get back with Harry?

Before she could put any more thought into it Harry spoke up.

"Great, now Hermione has been bugging me to have a party and I desperately need your help."

"Harry!" she said in mock exasperation. Did you make up with me just to help you deal with Hermione?"

"Ginny, she's on a mission and you know how she gets, she won't leave me alone. Harry was doing his best to look pitiful. Hermione had been after him for days to invite some of their friends over to his house. It seems that almost every day someone was floo'ing her asking how to get in touch with Harry, wondering if the rumors were true that he had returned and was teaching at Hogwarts.

"I guess I should just have a little reunion of sorts, I do owe it to my friends," he said.

"Yes, you do" she agreed giving in to this pitiful expression. "Why don't we send out some owls and we can invite everyone over next weekend for a BBQ Picnic out on your Quidditch pitch. I bet between D.A. members and their spouses and our family and friends it would probably be around a few dozen people. Not as big as your little Spring Fling, but still a nice party."

Harry frowned at Ginny, "Now come on, Oxford is a much bigger school than Hogwarts so there can't be a comparison. I was also at a very different time in my life."

Ginny laughed, "I know, I was just teasing, though I would have loved to have seen you in your prime."

They spent the rest of the evening putting together owls for the following weekend. Overall it had been an enjoyable evening chatting and laughing over beer and pizza.

O O O

Harry couldn't help the good mood he was in. He knew he must look like an idiot with the stupid grin plastered on his face, but he couldn't help himself from thinking that he was just one step closer to Ginny.

He was going out of his way to be a friend to her. He wanted to prove that his friendship wasn't a rouse to get them back together, well in actuality it was. But he didn't want her to know that.

He made sure to keep things at a safe distance so that all temptation was avoided. Harry ensured this for his own benefit. He could handle most activities with Ginny, but there were some things that he absolutely refused to be subject.

He avoided Black Lake at all costs. There were too many fond memories of him and Ginny there. He also avoided tight spaces and above all others the Room of Requirement.

He had asked Ginny to meet him to practice a dueling lesson for class. He had arrived a bit early so he went ahead and walked by the wall three times, both focusing on dueling and preoccupied with fond memories of the many stolen hours he and Ginny had spent in the room. When he walked in he was surprised to find, not a dueling platform but a candlelit room complete with pillows and a roaring fire.

He rushed out of the room in hopes of resetting it for the dueling practice. He saw Ginny approaching and panicked, hastily walking back and forth in hopes of getting the room right. Luckily, upon Ginny's entrance the room was in perfect order. From that moment onward, Harry did his best to keep all interaction with Ginny as safe as possible and above all, avoided the Room of Requirement.

He never once sat too close and did his best not to stare. Luckily he caught himself on that one before she ever noticed, though he was certain more than a few students have caught him.

He certainly didn't want to repeat the walking into the tree incident. It had been a gloriously sunny day and he had decided to take a lunch time stroll around the lake. Out of habit he looked over to the tree where he and Ginny had spent a great deal of time. What he saw took his breath away. There she was sitting in the grass by their tree her face lifted toward the sun enjoying its warmth. The rays highlighted her beautiful red hair as it flowed in waves down her back. Unfortunately, he was so absorbed in her beauty that he failed to notice the tree in his path. He was mortified when he looked around and found a bunch of young witches whispering and giggling at him.

Still this did nothing to dampen his spirits. Deep down inside he realized that Ginny had been upset when she thought he had broken his promise to her. Did this mean that she was still hoping that they would be each other's first's. Had she waited, for him? Did she really still care for him?

These questions kept him up at night and as a result his focus was down. He had already noticed that he had given his students less homework than he had originally planned for this week. In all honestly, he was just too tired to correct it all.

It was during his third year class on Thursday morning when he realized that he really needed to get his head back into the game.

He had been lecturing for a good ten minutes on identifying boggarts when one of his students stopped him.

"Yes Pierce," he said acknowledging the students raised hand.

Professor Potter, didn't we cover boggarts two weeks ago? I thought we were supposed to have read the chapter on Werewolves?" he asked tentatively. Harry could tell that the student wasn't trying to be cocky, just pointing out what everyone else had already realized but were too afraid to speak up about.

Harry looked down at his desk and saw the notes on Werewolves right next to the tests on boggarts that he had just finished correcting at four am that morning, due to his inability to sleep.

He closed his eyes and clasped his hand to his head. "You are absolutely right Pierce. Thank you for having the tenacity to point that out, five points for Ravenclaw. If you hadn't said something I would have just kept rambling on like Professor Binns!" he laughed.

He took a deep breath, "This is what lack of sleep will do to you." He said to no one in particular. He looked around his classroom. Even though he had tried his best to remove the dungeon-esque feel of the room, it still seems awfully dark at times.

He got up from his desk, "Everyone grab your bag and follow me," he announced. It was a beautiful April day and what he needed was some fresh air. He led them all down to the Quidditch pitch and assigned each of them a broom.

"Well, some of you may not be aware of this but defensive flying is an often neglected but very useful skill. How many of you think you can hit a target while flying?" he asked.

Only a few students raised their hands, and he knew that all of them were on house Quidditch teams.

He flicked his wand and instantly several round targets appeared and were floating at different heights around the pitch.

"For a change of pace I would like all of you to practice hitting those targets with a stunning spell. Each of them is charmed so that I will know who has actually hit their mark. I think groups of five should do, off we go." He motioned for the five students that had raised their hands to go first. He was pleased to see that each of them was able to hit at least three of their targets.

For the rest of the afternoon he had each of his classes join him on the pitch to practice the same drill. It was a great change of pace for everyone and above all it didn't involve him lecturing on identifying werewolves.

As he watched the seventh years he thought back to the night before and the reason he had been unable to sleep.

He and Ginny had been in his apartment finishing up the plans for the party. It was after hours so of course each of them was in casual clothes. Harry had donned a pair of track pants and a sweatshirt because though it may be sunny and warm during the day, the castle was still chilly at night.

When Ginny arrived she was wearing only track pants and a t-shirt. Harry knew that she would be cold later, but he didn't want to seem pushy so he remained quiet.

By ten they had finished responding to their RSVP's.

"So it looks like we should have about thirty six people," she said as she went down her list. "I can't believe so many of our friends have had children," she said in awe as she looked at the names of those who would be bringing family. My mum calls it the post-Voldemort baby boom."

At this Harry chuckled, he had heard it called that as well.

Ginny continued, "She says that everyone was so euphoric about the war being over that they ran off, got married and started having babies."

She must have been tired and not realizing what she was really saying because her next statement created quite the awkward moment.

"I guess I was almost part of those numbers the way my mum was throwing wizards at me. I just kept on telling her that not of one them was my Mr. Right." As she said this she and Harry's eyes locked.

Harry was just about to ask her who her Mr. Right was. She abruptly stopped him when she realized how close they were sitting and popped up from the sofa, "I promised Minerva that I would do ten o clock rounds, so I guess I should be going," she said quickly with a trembling voice.

Harry looked dumbstruck as he continued to think about Ginny's comment. Without thinking he took off his sweatshirt and handed it to her, "Here, the castle will be cold and you only have that thin t-shirt."

She tried to keep her eyes in her head and not stare at his toned and now bare chest. She pushed it back towards him, not really wanting him to put it back on, "Really Harry I should be fine," she said half-heartedly.

"No, I insist and I am not trying to coddle you either. It really is cold in those hallways at night. I should know I spent enough time sneaking around in them."

Ginny giggled then quickly put her hand up to her mouth to try and stop the flirtatious sound. She took the shirt and pulled it over her head. "Thanks Harry, I appreciate the thoughtful gesture."

Her departure was quick, as she practically threw her things in her bag and ran from his room. Once outside she couldn't help but fall against the wall to catch her breath her heart practically beating out of her chest. She lifted his shirt to her nose. Didn't it smell exactly like him, fresh air, broomsticks and treacle-tart mixed with the cologne he wore. She had to stop herself from sliding down the wall.

She didn't want to think any more tonight, because if she did she would certainly realize just how much trouble she was in.

O O O

On Saturday Ginny, Ron and Hermione arrived early to help with the set up. Harry had wanted to hire a caterer but Kreacher had insisted on making everything, claiming that it reminded him of the days when the Blacks hosted grand parties.

He relented which meant that he would still need to set up all the seating and lawn games. Of course being wizards, the lawn games either involved some type of target practice or explosion. Luckily Fred and George would be arriving shortly to take care of that.

Finally everything had been set up so everyone sat on the deck with a cold pumpkin juice or beer to relax a bit before the party.

From the corner of his eye Harry noticed that every once in a while Ginny was stealing glances at him.

He couldn't help the butterflies that kept erupting in his stomach. These looks weren't out of frustration, or even friendship, he could sense the heat radiating from her. It almost felt as if she was undressing him with her eyes! His nervous energy got the best of him

"Well, let's head out to the yard, everyone should be arriving in soon," he said as he picked up one of the babies and handed it to Ginny. He then picked up the other for himself and walked out to the yard and down the lane where their friends would arrive.

The first were Neville and Gabrielle.

"Since we were so late to the christening, we decided to be unfashionably on time to your party," said Neville with a big smile as he greeted everyone. He immediately noticed Harry and Ginny holding the babies. He stared at them for long moment, attracting everyone's attention.

"You two look way too comfortable holding those babies. You need to have some of your own." Realizing what he had just implied, Neville quickly tried to backtrack, "I mean of your own, you know separately, with your own. Damn, you know what I mean. Where's the bar?"

"This way," laughed Harry as he handed the baby off to Ron. He looked over at Ginny and felt his face flush as their eyes locked. He had imagined this very scene hundreds of times, he and Ginny holding their children, welcoming friends into their home.

Harry stopped a few yards later, "Ron why don't you take everyone up, I'll wait here for the rest of the guests,"

"Sure thing mate," said Ron. "This way to Potter Castle," he called in jest.

"Ha, ha wise arse, just show Nev where the bar is. You've spent enough time under it to get there blindfolded."

"Too true," said Ron with a laugh as he led Neville and a few of the other guests that had arrived up the path.

Throughout the evening Ginny felt herself drawn to Harry. It felt almost natural to be the hostess next to him, greeting their guests, offering more food and drinks and mingling throughout the crowd.

She noticed her family giving her strange looks. At one point she saw her mother dabbing away a few tears as she talked with Bill and Charlie, each of them nodding their heads towards she and Harry.

She walked over to them and wrapped her arm around her mother's shoulders. "Are you ok mum?" she asked. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

This question brought on another little fit of tears, "Oh, Ginny I am just fine. It's just so nice to see everyone having such a good time."

Harry noticed Mrs. Weasley's tears and joined them, "Everything ok?" he asked.

She dabbed her eyes and gave a little laugh, "Yes, yes dear everything is wonderful. It's just so nice of you to be home again. And here you and Ginny are hosting a party, and everyone is having such a grand time. It just gets a mum a bit emotional I guess."

"Mum Harry and I," started Ginny as she looked between Harry and her mum.

"Are just thrilled that you could all come," he said with smile as he gently placed his hand on Ginny's back. "Now if I could just borrow Ginny for a few minutes, a few of the guests with children would like to say goodnight."

He steered her towards the door and down the lane.

"What was that all about?" she asked him curiously.

He looked at her, "Gin, we may not be a couple," he started.

She tried to interrupt.

"Eh, let me finish. We may not be a couple and I am perfectly fine with that. But you are one of my best friends and it is perfectly acceptable for two best friends to host a party. Isn't it?"

She looked at him, "Am I really one of your best friends Harry?"

"Gin, even when we were together I always considered you one of my best friends. How could you not be?"

She completely shocked him by reaching over and giving him a warm hug, "Thank you Harry," she said with a big grin. "I would love to call you one of my best friends."

Harry smiled, "Brilliant, it's settled then. Now let's get down to the apparation sight and thank our guests for coming."

Later that evening, the remaining group found themselves sitting on picnic blankets in the middle of the Quidditch pitch as a few people soared above playing an impromptu game.

Once all the children had left for the evening Harry thought it was appropriate to open up the outside bar and give a nod to a few of the drinking games that he heard several of his friends discussing, this one in particular involved Quidditch, beer and some type of point system that most people had long since forgotten about.

Ginny watched from a blanket below, deciding a few drinks ago that it would not be a good idea to fly. She laughed as Harry fumbled an easy catch of the quaffle while trying to hold his broom and a beer at the same time.

"You suck!" yelled George, "Ron could have caught that you wanker!" Because, even though his youngest brother was a member of the Cannons, it was still fair game to insult his playing.

Seconds later a bludger whizzed by George's head causing him to loose his balance and falter on his broom. He turned to see Ron, hovering just a few yards away, tossing another quaffle up and down ready to strike again at any moment.

"Oh, just shut it you tosser," laughed George. "Just because the Cannons felt sorry for you doesn't give you permission to start acting all Krum on me."

"Fine, then I guess you won't be needing those season tickets eh?" joked Ron.

Fred came to his brother's recue, "Now Ronnikins, no need to get your knickers in a twist now is there," he said as he pulled up along side of him and flung his arm over his shoulders.

Ron made a face and laughed, knowing what his brothers were up to. Just as Fred reached over to try and steal the quaffle, Ron did a roll and flipped himself upside down taking the quaffle with him.

The twins just looked each other and then at their little brother who was laughing hysterically. He did yet another barrel roll, this time being sure to give them an offensive hand gesture at the same time.

"Show off!" they yelled.

Ginny laughed at their antics then grabbed her wand to produce a pillow to lie back against. It had been a long day and she was starting to wind down. She continued to watch the game and did her best not to focus on Harry, which was very difficult. He was looking especially handsome in his jeans and the new Cannons jersey that Ron had brought him. Between that and his disheveled hair from flying, she found it very hard to look at anything else.

She didn't get to rest very long because a few moments later she was joined by her two best friends Meg and Hillary, each of them was now sporting sparkling new engagements rings, matching of course. She still couldn't believe that Thing 1 and Thing 2 popped the question at the same time. So now her two best friends were marrying her twin brothers. She was happy, though she still could not fathom what they saw in the two imbeciles.

"Enjoying the scenery Miss Weasley?" asked Meg with a mischievous grin.

"What?" asked Ginny as innocently as possible, she knew she was caught, no sense denying it?

"So, just friends?" asked Hillary as she made herself comfortable next to Ginny.

"Yep, just friends," replied Ginny wholeheartedly.

"Oh, give me a break," laughed Meg, I give it another month before you rip each others clothes off in the middle of the Great Hall.

"Harry and I have a very strong friendship that neither one of us wants to jeopardize," she said trying to convince herself as much as them.

"Sure you do," laughed Hillary. "I saw the way you two were acting tonight, like you've been married for years. I was surprised you didn't finish each others sentences."

Just then Harry swooped down and landed near them. He walked over and sat down next to Ginny who, without thinking, handed him her beer. Meg and Hillary just sat back and watched as the two fell into light conversation and laughed. Hillary lost it when Harry pulled out his wand and turned the empty bottle into a pillow. He fluffed it a few times then set it in front of Ginny's knees to lean back upon and get comfortable.

"What," he asked when he noticed Meg and Hillary both muffling laughs.

Ginny glared at them. "It's nothing. I think being engaged to my brothers has finally gotten to them and they have both gone completely mental."

12


	15. Dodging Hexes

AN: Hello all. Sorry about the wait. This chapter was actually done several weeks ago, but each time I read it I decided to add a bit more. So what started out as six pages, became twelve.

**Will the Real Harry and Ginny Please Stand Up!**

Ginny looked around the comfortable guest room. Its centerpiece was a magnificent cherry four poster bed covered with a beautifully embroidered quilt accompanied by a matching bureau and vanity. She had always dreamed of a room just like this with its tailored curtains and plush pillows, but never dreamed that she would one day sleep in one. There were fresh flowers on the table near the window seat, a perfect place to read and enjoy a cup of tea. It was as if Harry had designed the room specifically for her.

She was suspicious of this because when he brought here she could tell that he was eager to see her reaction. Of course she was thrilled and he was rewarded with her radiant smile.

When she noticed a heavenly lavender scent coming from the bathroom she went in to find that someone had dawn her bath. She enjoyed a luxurious soak and when she came out there was a cup of chamomile tea waiting for her near her bed. She figured that it was either Kreacher or Dobby. One of them was usually around here somewhere.

She snuggled under her covers then reached for her cup of tea. Who ever it was they knew how to make her happy. She was ready to settle in with her book when she noticed something sticking out of her tote bag, a green ribbon.

As she pulled on it several of Harry's letters slipped out. Her fingers were trembling as she reached for them. If she hadn't packed them, then who had?

On top of the letters she found a note written in a familiar swirling script.

Dear Ginny,

I figured that you might be ready to read a few of these. I had summoned them when we met you at your flat this morning. These are the last few letters he wrote before going back to Hogwarts. I wasn't sure if I should give them to you until I saw the way you two were acting this evening. Then I was certain.

I know you will be furious with me but I have to say that you and Harry are meant to be together. I have never met two people who just understood each other the way you do. You are terrific friends and I have enjoyed watching the two of you rekindle that bond. But when each of you thinks the other is not looking, I can see that you desire so much more. I am no Occlumens just call it woman's intuition. That and I think I know my two best friends!

I am hoping that what is written will give you a better understanding of what Harry did. Again, I have never read them but I have a feeling about what they contain.

Love always,

Hermione

Ginny sat for a moment and stared at the letters before her, the last one was dated just a month before he came back to Hogwarts this past summer.

**Dear Ginny,**

**I think this will be the last letter I write for a while. I have decided to call Headmistress McGonagall and take her up on her offer to teach DADA. I think I will enjoy teaching and sharing what I have learned with eager new students. I am so proud that you have become a teacher. Hogwarts students should consider themselves lucky to have you. Your knowledge of charms was impressive back when we were in school and I am certain it has grown exponentially.**

**For years now I have tried to be happy, but as you know, it has always just been out of my grasp. Whenever I look back, the happiest time in my life was when we were together. Even with the threat of Voldemort so near it was a time when I can say I felt complete. You were the one who truly understood me, who could calm me with a simple touch, who made me feel wanted and loved. With you I was never "the Boy who lived" I was just Harry the guy you liked to pull into broom cupboards and play Quidditch with.**

**I know that you will not accept me back into your life easily. I would be fooling myself otherwise. I have hurt you tremendously and for that I am truly sorry. I am hoping that you will at least allow me to become your friend. I know it will be hard because I am certain that my urge to pull you into a cupboard and snog the daylights out of you will be great. But you and I both know that the only thing that would get me is a face full of bat-boggies.**

**I must do what I can to earn your friendship and trust, and if one day it becomes more than I know my life will be complete. If not I know that being your friend will bring value to my life and for that I will be grateful.**

**I need you Gin, of that I am certain. I am tired of living a lie and it is about time I stopped moping around and did something about it.**

**Love,**

**Harry**

She read the letter through a second time. He was willing to just be friends with her. The relief flooded through her system. She enjoyed being his friend and was glad that she had given him the chance.

She fell asleep wondering if Harry would really be happy just being her friend. Right before she drifted off, in that state where your subconscious has its loudest voice, she wondered if friendship was all she really wanted from Harry.

O O O

The next morning breakfast was a rowdy event. Kreacher and her mum were in the kitchen fussing at each other over who would do the majority of the cooking. Fred, George, Meg and Hillary were talking wedding plans with Hermione and Fleur, a five year old Victoire sitting on her lap and brushing her dolls hair. Ron and Charlie were discussing Quidditch, with Fred and George trying to listen in. Percy and Bill were discussing something about the ministry and Harry and Dobby were talking about his work schedule. It seems that Harry wanted to give him a raise and Dobby would have nothing to do with it.

Ginny just sat at the table next to Harry and watched the commotion around her.

"Dobby you have to be exhausted working at Hogwarts, Grimmuald Place and here. Plus you've been doing all that extra work for M.O.M representing the house elves. At least let me improve your living quarters," pleaded Harry.

"Harry Potter Sir, Dobby enjoyz the works that he does. Dobby is a most useful elf and helping his friend Harry Potter and the Ministry makes life better for his elf friends are two very useful things. Dobby is a fee elf and can do as many things as he chooses," said the little elf defiantly. "Dobby already feels like royalty in his very own room in this grand home and can come and go as he pleases, what more does an elf need?"

Harry realized that he was fighting a losing battle and decided to give up, "You're right Dobby you are a free elf and can make your own decisions. It was wrong of me to try and change your mind."

Dobby crossed his arms and nodded his head, "Thank you Harry Potter," and with a pop he was gone.

Ginny didn't even think, she reached over and took his hands that were fidgeting on top of the table and gave them a squeeze, "Having a rough morning?"

His smile was instantaneous, "Not any more," he said and gave her hands a squeeze in return.

Soon breakfast was being served and the conversation was flowing.

"I say we make this a regular thing," said Fred. "What's better than playing Quidditch on a regulation pitch," finished George.

Everyone looked at Harry, "Sounds good to me. How about a once a month, a Sunday dinner?" he asked.

He noticed the look from Mrs. Weasley. He did not want to tread on her turf.

"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley. If you want, you can cook right here in my kitchen."

"Thank you Harry," she said with a smile, satisfied with the compromise.

Everyone agreed wholeheartedly and the topic moved on to the twins weddings.

"Well we have an announcement to make," said George.

All heads turned to the two couples.

"We have decided that the wedding should be next month at the Burrow."

Suddenly the room was in another uproar.

"A month George, you can't be serious," exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. "How am I ever going to prepare for that in time!"

"Well, that's the other thing," said Fred. "We figured we've caused you so much trouble over the years that it was about time we did something nice for you. We are going to have the entire event catered."

Mrs. Weasley breathed a sigh of relief and took a sip of her tea, "Thank you boys."

"I can honestly say mum, that I am a bit shocked," commented Charlie. "I thought for sure you would put up a fuss about not planning the wedding."

"Charlie dear, the only reason I had any part in the planning of Bill and Fleur's wedding was because it was here and not in France. Otherwise, it is the bride's duty." She looked over at Ginny and tried not to look at Harry. "I have only one wedding to plan and that's going to be with Ginny."

Everyone at the table immediately turned toward Harry and Ginny, who felt her cheeks grow red, "Meg, Hillary, have you picked out your dresses yet? Are they going to match?" she said quickly.

"Smooth," commented Ron. "Ouch!" he exclaimed as he rubbed his shin where Hermione had swiftly kicked it.

"Yes girls, what about your dresses," she asked trying to help her friend out. "I know it took me forever to pick out mine."

A few moments later their twin girls were heard crying in the other room waking up from their morning nap. "That's my queue," said Hermione with a laugh.

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Hermione and her mum get up to fetch them. She loved those little red headed wonders. Her mum would get so caught up with them that all thoughts of nagging her about weddings would be long gone.

She felt Harry pat her hand, "You ok?"

"I've become the queen of diversionary tactics when it comes to discussing weddings with mum. I don't think she wants to accept the fact that we are just friends."

Harry smiled and gave her hand a squeeze, "She'll get the picture eventually," he said with a chuckle. "Anyway we have Fred and George to keep her busy for the next month or so, then of course she'll be hounding them about grandchildren. So, you've got a bit of a reprieve."

Ginny shook her head, "Now that's where you underestimate her. Mum is skilled at multitasking. She can hound me about getting married and Fred and George about grandchildren at the same time. And let's not forget her constant desire to stuff you with food. She's a genius. A regular Merlin when it comes to mothering."

Harry smiled, "That she is. You'll make a great mom one day too, Ginny."

She smiled, "Why thank you Harry, that's very sweet of you to say."

"Your mum and dad are brilliant examples. I don't think I would have ever known what a family was if it weren't for yours," he said as he motioned to the group. "I love each and every one of this crazy bunch. I consider myself the luckiest wizard on earth the day I met your brother on the Hogwarts express."

"Well, don't forget you've done us a good turn or two as well. A few of us wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for you."

"And I would do it all over again if asked," he looked around. At that moment he really couldn't look her in the eye. It would make the realization come crashing down on him all over again. If Tom Riddle had killed her in his second year he probably wouldn't have come back from the dead when Professor Dumbledore had given him the choice. He would never have had the memory of Ginny's kiss to keep him going, her love to keep him strong. What memories would he have cherished each and every night they were out hunting Horcruxes? Who would he have written to?

"I'll be back in a second Gin," he said as he looked off in the distance trying to remember what book he had put the letters near. "I have to look for something."

Ginny didn't know how she knew, but she was certain he was going searching for the very letters she had stashed away in her bedroom at her flat. Of course there were the three that she had upstairs. What if he summoned them? Merlin's boxers how would she explain that one?

She quickly looked around, searching for a distraction. Miracle of all miracles in came Hermione and her mum with the girls.

"Mum!" she called, "Didn't you say you wanted a better picture of Harry and I with the girls?" she asked desperately hoping that her look of urgency was being picked up by Hermione.

Just as he was about to leave the room Hermione called for him. "Harry could you come here a minute?"

Ginny mouthed 'thank you' to Hermione and went over to get her mother. "I think they look just adorable in those new jumpers you made them. Why don't we get Harry's camera and take a picture right now before they get all covered with drool."

"Harry dear, fetch me your camera won't you?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

Luckily for Ginny by the time they were able to get a decent picture of the four of them Harry had forgotten all about what he was looking for.

All he could think about was that Ginny was sitting very close to him and she smelled amazing. He was also trying very hard not to be preoccupied with the top she was wearing, though it wasn't low cut like the one Lavender wore the other day, it provided an opportune view for the person sitting next to her. Especially if they were about a foot taller than she was, it was like her cleavage was beckoning him. A lace trim was visible, preoccupying his mind with imagines of what the rest of it might look like.

After the pictures the men went out to play Quidditch by themselves, it was a warm day and the women preferred the cool of the house and the comfort of the solarium.

"Ginny, Meg and I have been wondering if you have thought about our flat?" she asked tentatively.

Suddenly it dawned on Ginny that in one month's time she would either have to pay for the entire flat or find someplace else to live.

"Not until you just mentioned it," she said with a laugh. "But don't you worry about it; I can live at Hogwarts full time."

"But I thought you said you didn't want to do that?" asked Meg. "You've always said that you needed a place to go outside of Hogwarts just to get away sometimes."

She looked at her comfortable surroundings, a place where she felt completely at home with one of her best friends, "I know, but that's ok, I'll manage."

O O O

Later that evening, Harry and Ginny were enjoying their dinner out on the lawn when she decided to ask Harry a favor.

"Harry, after breakfast today Meg and Hillary reminded me of something quite important and I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you?" she asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable in her resolve.

"Sure Gin, you know you can ask me anything."

"Well, now that they have a wedding date set, they reminded me that they would be moving out of our flat next month."

Harry tried to hide his smile. Could she really be asking him this?

Ginny continued, "I know I can't afford the flat by myself, and it would be a real waste of money seeing I am only there about forty percent of the time."

Harry was having a hard time concealing his excitement so he began tapping his foot under the table.

"I absolutely do not want to move back home with my parents. So I was wondering if I could stay with you for a while. At least until I can find a place cheap enough to afford on my own. I can pay you the same I was paying Meg and Hillary, you know split the bills and such."

He answered before she could get her next statement out. "Of course you can live here!" he said enthusiastically. "Would you like the bedroom you stayed in last night? I could see how much you liked it."

She was a bit shocked by his eagerness, "Yes that would be lovely."

Harry took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. It felt like Christmas and his birthday all at once. "Just let me know when you want to move your things and I'll make arrangements for them to be transported. I know a good magical moving company."

"Harry, that won't be necessary. I really don't have all that much. It was Meg and Hillary's flat before I moved in and all of the furniture is theirs. Being a teacher and living at Hogwarts I never really had a need to buy anything, I knew I would be at school most of the time. That's why living with them was perfect, I didn't even have to buy bedroom furniture."

"And don't worry about the rent. I don't have a mortgage, so there is no sense you paying me anything."

Ginny was about to protest.

"And you know as well as I do that I don't need the money, so don't argue."

"I don't want to seem like a freeloader," she insisted, "I don't want you to think I am taking advantage of our friendship."

"It didn't' even cross my mind," he said truthfully. "I would enjoy the company. It gets a bit lonely in this big house with just me, Kreacher and Dobby. I've actually been considering getting a pet."

"Oh, than I guess it isn't necessary to suggest that I use Grimmuald Place instead. I know how you value your privacy."

"Nonsense, I am glad you felt comfortable enough to ask."

O O O

Harry was on top of the world. He couldn't believe his good fortune. Ginny was actually going to be moving in with him! He hoped that if things went the way he wanted, she would never have a reason to go looking for a flat of her own.

He was on his way out of his classroom when he heard an unmistakable laughter coming from her classroom across the hall. He wondered what was making her laugh like that.

He peeked in to find her and Michael Simon, the Ancient Runes professor, engaged in animated conversation.

Harry knew Simon had probably been waiting for her to break up with Chet. With the way the grapevine in the castle worked, he must have known as soon as it had happened, but waited a bit to give her some time. Simon was now pouring on the charm, and strong.

"Hey Harry," asked Ginny when she saw him. "Did you know that Michael was in Hermione's Ancient Runes class? I guess you and Ron weren't the only ones who had to suffer with her knowing all the answers."

"Simon," said Harry, briefly acknowledging Michael with a nod. No way was he going to be nice to a bloke who could make Ginny laugh like that.

Michael nodded in return, "Potter."

Ginny just sighed, men could be so childish.

Harry had to think quickly, he didn't want Michael spending time with Ginny and ruining his chances. What if they started dating! He would probably frown upon her moving in with him and would suggest that she live with him instead. He had already noticed the way Simon would look at her in the Great Hall and at faculty meetings. He knew that look. He looked at Ginny the same way. This guy meant business.

"Gin," he started, "Madame Hooch expects us to have that new defense worked out by this weekend so I was on my way down to the pitch. Care to join me?" he asked.

Harry knew that Simon did not like to fly so at least that was one strike against him.

"Oh, sure Harry," she said with a smile. "Let me just wrap things up here and I'll be ready in a minute. Do you want me to meet you down there?" she asked.

"No," he said a bit too quickly. "No, that's ok, I'll wait. I'm not in a rush."

Ginny looked up startled, she could have sworn for a second she could see jealousy in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by his normal relaxed expression.

"Ok well, just let me close up shop here and I'll be ready in a second," she said as she got up from her desk and started flicking her wand in a few directions to tidy up.

"So Michael, I guess it's the Newt's Eye then?" she asked.

"Brilliant I'll see you then," he said with a wide smile then left the room.

Harry took a deep breath, trying his best to look relaxed. He didn't want to look jealous.

As he and Ginny walked out of the castle toward the pitch he couldn't help but steel a few glances wondering what was going on between her and Simon.

Suddenly she stopped short, "Ok, out with it Potter," she said.

"What?" he asked trying to sound innocent.

"You know what," she said sternly. "You keep looking at me like something is bothering you."

He looked at her, "We're friends, right?" he asked.

She nodded her head, "Yes, of course we are."

"Yes, well as your friend I think it's only right for me to ask you," he said stumbling over his words. "I mean really Ginny, you just broke up with Chet and you already have a date with Simon. Isn't there a waiting period or something? And do we really know this guy aside from school?"

At first Ginny thought it was kind of cute, Harry being jealous and all. But then she reminded herself that they were just, on only just, friends.

Her temper soon got the best of her, "I can't believe you have the nerve to even say such a thing," she shouted. "After I watched you parade dozens of Muggle dates in front of me you have the balls to tell me that I should wait a bit before I start dating again! You are such a hypocrite. And it's not like I hopped into bed with the next bloke I met. Chet and I have been broken up for weeks."

"But Ginny I," he tried to explain.

"Oh, don't give me that rubbish I don't even want to hear it. You know Harry I really thought we were going to be friends, but you had to go and ruin it didn't you."

"Ginny I want to be friends it's just I," he stopped talking when she pulled out her wand and pointed it at his face. He could see the fire in her eyes and new he was in trouble.

"Now Gin, there is no reason to start throwing hexes around. I was just trying to be a friend."

"Harry you don't have the slightest idea how to be my friend. I really thought we had a chance. I was even willing to overlook some things, but really Harry, I am so sick and tired of you skulking around this castle watching me when you think I'm not looking."

"You noticed that?" he said a bit ashamed.

"You think I'm blind!" she yelled and shot a hex at him that barely missed and bounced off a nearby tree.

He jumped, "Hey Ginny wait! That almost hit me."

"I missed on purpose," she grumbled. "Run into any trees lately Harry?"

He looked up completely mortified.

"Oh give me a break it's all the girls could talk about in study hall, I didn't even have to pretend to listen in on their conversations. And how do you know I am even going on a date with Michael? Did you stop to consider that maybe I am meeting up with him and his fiancé Hannah Abbot. And why does it even matter to you? We are just friends after all," she stormed onto the Quidditch pitch. "Is that what you really want Potter, for us to be just friends?" She didn't even know what she was saying, she just knew that she was mad and she was lashing out.

"Yes, that's what I want," he almost pleaded.

"Why do you need more friends Harry? From the looks of that spring party you threw you certainly had enough friends before you decided re-grace us with your supreme presence."

Ginny thought back to some of the things that had hurt her when he came back into her life. She didn't know why she was bringing up such old laundry, but she needed to yell at him about something. "And what about your dear friend Rebecca, she was a real charmer. If you like the type that only cares about their nails and clothes, or maybe it was something else that drew you to her? I seem to remember her having a particularly striking shade of hair. It reminded me of someone. Who was it now? Let me think, Romilda Vane maybe?" Ginny shot another hex that landed on his shoulder.

"Ouch, Ginny that hurt," he yelled.

"Who was it Harry?" she asked again. "Oh, yah I know," she shot off another hex that hit him in the shin. "ME!" she yelled.

"OUCH, Ginny that's enough," he yelled, will you stop hitting me with those things, they sting.

She glared at him, "You're lucky I am taking it easy on you, you slimy git." She shot another hex at him, this time a bat bogey. Harry's reflexes woke up and took action putting up a shield.

"Ginny I had to come back, I got tired of living a lie," he kept up the shield as she shot yet another hex at him. He started backing up. "I tried to be happy. I thought I explained all of this."

She shot another hex at him which of course was blocked. "You did you git and I bought the entire load of troll shit. I even read that letter you wrote, boy was I an idiot, I fell for it. Why can't you just be honest with me Harry, why can't you just come out and tell me the truth? You're just like my brothers treating me like a child, like I can't handle anything."

She decided to pull out all the stops and ask him something that had been weighing on her mind for months. "Is that why you never came back to me after the battle? Did you think I was so delicate I wouldn't have been able to handle the truth? Was your past so dark and dangerous that you thought it would tear me apart?"

Harry was now angry and incredibly frustrated that his well thought out plan had fallen apart. How could he possibly have a chance of getting her back now? His only hope was to just lay it all on the line and see what happened. He won the war flying by the seat of his pants he might as well try it again.

"You want honesty Ginny, is that what you want?" he said slowly moving forward, his shield forcing her backwards.

"Yes dammit," she yelled raising her own shield trying to push back but failing.

"Are you sure Gin, are you really sure? Because I don't think you want to hear what I have to say. To tell you the truth, I pretty much know I'm going to destroy all chances I have at the life I want. But if you want it, here it goes."

In one swift movement he tore down both of their shields and pulled her in for an amazingly passionate kiss. She resisted for about a millisecond, but Harry soon found Ginny's hands hungrily winding themselves through his hair. Years of pent up hunger found its way through as they each pulled the other closer, realizing that this was exactly what they had each needed all along.

When he let her down he could tell it had affected her the same way. They were breathing heavily and like magnets being drawn together for yet another kiss. Harry used all his strength to resist. He felt as if someone had cast a jelly legs jinx and he was fighting to maintain his balance.

"Ginny Weasley I have been in love with you since my sixth year at Hogwarts and if I knew you'd say yes I'd pull out a ring and ask you to marry me right here on this spot."

After getting this out his euphoric face suddenly turned sad. "Ginny I had made being without you my personal penance for all of the horrible things I had to do to get to Voldemort. How could I deserve something so pure and perfect when I was such a monster? I realize now just how selfish that was. I wish I knew how to tell you how sorry I am for all the hurt I caused you, but I don't. I thought that by starting over and becoming your friend I would have a chance with you, but I guess I was wrong. There is no other person on this earth who I could imagine being happy with, who I could say I knew for certain was my perfect fit. It has always been you Ginny."

Ginny was in complete shock, she had never expected him to say those things. But he had given her what she had asked. He had given her the truth. It was her turn to give him an honest reply.

She launched herself at him, sending them tumbling to the ground. She was certain that with what she had just heard she wanted to snog Harry within an inch of his life.

"You are such a fool Harry Potter," she said with such tenderness that it made his heart soar. She reached down and pulled his face slowly up to hers for what started out as a tender kiss. This soon escalated into something so much more.

To the both of them it was like coming home but yet all brand new. The last time they had been together like this it had been with the bodies of the seventeen and sixteen year old Harry and Ginny. Now each of them was more mature in body and experience bringing new skills to the table.

"Bloody Hell," he whispered, as his hands traveled down her curvaceous body. "Gin, we really do need to," and when her hands started to wander and her lips found an extremely sensitive spot on his shoulder he lost all train of thought.

Ginny was having the same bit of difficulty. Harry certainly didn't kiss this fantastically back in school, that or she missed him that much that it just seemed that way. Then there were his hands! When did they learn to move like that? The things he was doing should be illegal and they were still fully clothed. She couldn't even imagine what he could do when they were seriously fooling around.

A little while later, after a lovely make-up snog session, they were lying back in the sand reminiscing, Ginny was lying across Harry's chest and he was slowly running his hands through her silky thick red hair.

"I should have let you hex me months ago," he said with a laugh.

She smiled as she enjoyed the feeling of his chest moving up and down under her cheek. She then took up one of his hands and kissed it. "I should have stopped being so nice to you months ago and made you just get to the point." She moved up so that her face was above his and dropped a kiss on his lips. "Just think of how much more fun we could be having," she said with a sly grin.

He closed his eyes and groaned, "You really know how to hurt a bloke don't you?"

16


	16. Part 2: Promises Kept

Well Hello Everyone!

I have been working on this story for quite some time and even though it is not completely finished I decided to post the next chapter. This has a strong T rating. I didn't want to move it to M because there is nothing graphic. I have read some of the M stuff out there and this is so not in that league! Please let me know what you think. This has not been beta'd but I have read it about a million times and I think I have caught most things, please excuse any mistakes and let me know. I will correct them. And so, on with the show!

* * *

Promises Kept

"Don't even think about touching me," she said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and closed her eyes tight.

"Come on Gin," whined Harry sounding like a kid who just lost his favorite toy.

"So help me Harry you even breathe on me and I will grab my wand and hex you." She was trying desperately to get her breathing and heart rate under control but was failing miserably.

The smirk on Harry's face wasn't helping.

He propped himself up on his elbows to look at her properly. She was his vision of perfection with her fiery hair splayed out like a halo and her flushed skin damp with perspiration. He found a droplet making its way down the valley of her breasts. He was itching to follow it with the tips of his fingers just to see how much farther he could drag her over the edge. "You weren't complaining a few minutes ago, as a matter of fact I think I heard you scream my name a few times along with the words don't stop and you're a god. I'm glad I had the foresight to put up privacy wards."

"Don't be a smart arse Potter," she said with the little remaining energy she possessed. She inhaled sharply when she felt Harry blow cool air over her stomach causing a whole new set of goose pimples to appear. Sharp tingles went down her spine making her toes curl. She tried to flip over and crawl away from her unrelenting boyfriend but was stopped when he pulled her back into his arms.

Ginny looked at him through her barely open eyelids, "You are not human. I lost count at nine."

Harry's smirk grew. He had been going for ten, but by the beautiful satisfied look on her face, nine would do just fine.

"If I had the energy I would smack you, but I don't." she said as she closed her eyes again.

"Gin, I have wanted you in my bed since I was sixteen. That was over ten years ago. Ten years!"

"Harry we haven't left this bed all weekend. Don't you think people are going to wonder what happened to us?"

"Don't care," he said as he lightly traced his fingers down her bare back.

"I need to sleep," she whined pathetically.

"Fine, let's sleep for a few hours," he pouted "but no clothes."

"I don't have the energy to even summon them," she said around a big yawn.

Just as they were drifting off they heard a familiar voice calling from the floo.

"Ginny are you there," called Hermione.

"Go away," she moaned.

"I'll get it," he said as he slid Ginny off him and got up. He looked back at his beautiful girlfriend and smirked, he just couldn't resist. He leaned over and blew a raspberry on her lovely backside.

"Evil man," she murmured into her pillow still too tired to retaliate.

Harry slipped on his jeans and opened the floo. "Hey Hermione what's up?"

"Harry!" she said a bit surprised to see him there, especially with no shirt on. "Is Ginny there?"

He couldn't help the smile that formed, "she's resting."

"Is she ill?" asked Hermione now very curious with his response.

"No, just worn out," his grin grew.

Suddenly Ron pushed his head through. "It's about bloody time!"

"Hiya Ron," said Harry.

"I don't want details because she is my sister but, Merlin's boxers you were driving us mental."

Ginny got up and pulled on Harry's shirt and boxers, she had no idea where her clothes were, "I'm up, I'm up," she said as she flopped down next to Harry.

He automatically pulled her closer and kissed her hair, "you look so bloody sexy right now," he whispered into her ear.

She couldn't help but smile and blush. Forty-eight hours ago she and Harry had fulfilled their promise to each other. It was sweet and tender and totally worth the wait. Waking up in Harry's arms was one of the best feelings ever.

Then the adventure began. She loved this new side of Harry but if she didn't sleep soon she was going to pass out from pure exhaustion.

"Hello!" called an annoyed Ron, "We are still here!"

"Sorry," said Ginny with a big yawn. "What's up?"

Hermione poked through again, "Well I was just calling to see how you were doing, but I can see that things are fine."

Ginny smiled, "Let me sleep for a few hours and we will come for tea." She looked up at Harry, "I mean it! I need sleep!"

Several hours and a fantastic shower later Ginny and Harry apparated to Ron and Hermione's house.

"Will you wipe that bloody grin off your face," grimaced Ron as he and Harry settled into the living room.

"Sorry mate can't help it. I've been making up for lost time."

"Well you shagging my sister for an entire weekend is just something that I really don't want think about and that stupid look on your face is disturbing."

"Hey, payback is a bitch. When you and Hermione got together you looked the same way on countless occasions."

Ron grinned, "I did, didn't I."

"Yes, you did, and Hermione is the closest thing I have to a sister. I remember reminding you of that frequently."

"Yah, well she's now my wife."

"I'm working on that one."

"So soon? When did you get back together anyway?" asked Ron.

"We had this fantastic row on the Quidditch pitch Friday. And you know what your sister is like when she gets angry. Somehow I was able to turn that around to my favor. Anyhow, I've wanted to marry her for ages, so why wait."

"Well just don't run off and elope like Charlie did, mum had kittens over that one."

"I wouldn't dare. I don't want to cheat her out of that giant fairytale wedding she's been planning since Gin was born."

Upstairs on a blanket in the nursery Ginny and Hermione were playing with the girls.

"I want details!" laughed Hermione as Emma blew bubbles.

Ginny smiled, "Are you sure?"

"I'm a big girl, tell me everything."

"Well it all started a few days ago when I was talking to Michael Simon in my classroom, you know the Ancient Runes professor. Well, Harry must have overheard us making a date to meet at the Newts Eye. As you know Michael is engaged to Hanna Abbott and I have wanted to get together with them forever. But I guess Harry did not know this, so he buts in and says that we need to work on a new defense move for Professor Hooch and wants to go out to the Quidditch pitch. We head out and he starts asking me about Michael and how it is a bit soon for me to be dating again after Chet.

Hermione gave Ginny a knowing look.

"I know! He was as green as a horntail. So, of course I lost my temper and started throwing stinging jinx and yelling at him.

"You didn't!" gasped Hermione.

"I did," said Ginny proudly. "I got in a few good ones too."

"Good for you!"

"Thank you," said Ginny. "So," she continued. "All of a sudden Harry starts getting a bit heated and he starts telling me how he's loved me since his sixth year and if he knew I'd say yes he would propose to me on the spot."

Hermione sat there in complete shock, mouth agape.

"I know!" squealed Ginny. "I looked just like you do now. So Harry pulled me into his arms and kissed me like I have NEVER been kissed before. I thought the pitch was spinning!"

"Oh my God, Ginny that is the best thing I have ever heard! I am so happy for you!" She reached over and hugged her best friend.

Ginny beamed, "I know, amazing right. It gets better! We spend some quality time in the sand snogging like bloody teenagers and then we started talking again. It was fabulous. We talked about everything and anything."

"So how did your marathon weekend start," asked Hermione, the curiosity was killing her.

"Well," said Ginny with a big smile. "We decided to head back to the castle and get some dinner and Harry suggested we have it in my apartment. He asks me to head down to the kitchen and grab it while he took care of a few things. When I got back he had set up a beautiful candle lit table in font of the fireplace and sitting on my plate was a velvet box with a bow."

Hermione immediately grabbed Ginny's left hand.

"No not that. But I wouldn't have minded it. He gave me this." Ginny leaned forward to show Hermione a necklace with an emerald pendant."

Hermione gasped. "It's lovely."

Ginny fingered the delicate chain around her neck, "It was his mothers. James had given it to her on their first anniversary. He said it matched her eyes, which of course now match Harry's. Its goblin made. The chain is unbreakable, just like their love. Harry said I had to have it because his love for me is the same."

They both started to tear up, "I know!" laughed Ginny through her tears. "Who would have thought my Harry could be that romantic! We had a lovely dinner and danced by the firelight."

Hermione's eyes grew wide.

"He found some station on the wireless that played great music. Anyway, one thing led to another and well, we fulfilled our promise to each other."

Hermione gave Ginny a knowing look.

"For it being both of our first time, which I still find hard to believe, it was wonderful."

"Oh, Gin I am so happy for you," gushed Hermione.

"Well, we took a bit of lie in and woke up around one or two in the morning. And then," she paused. "I met a whole new side of Harry that I would have never imagined existed." Ginny couldn't help but smile as the memories of her weekend flooded in.

Hermione gave her a questioning look.

"Let's just say Harry has a fabulous imagination and is extremely unselfish. At one point my body was so high strung that I had to threaten to hex him if he touched me again. I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust."

Hermione covered her mouth with her hands in shock and awe.

"I know!" exclaimed Ginny. "I swear Fed and George must have given him a few of their magic pills because he was always…ready."

The girls continued to talk as the twins enjoyed their tummy time on the blankets on the floor.

Downstairs Ron and Harry continued with their own talk about the weekend.

Ron was still looking at the TV when he asked Harry, "Well?"

Harry continued to look straight ahead and smiled, "Bloody brilliant."

Ron nodded his head. Though he was glad for his best friend it was still his sister and details were not an option.

Both men continued to drink their beer and watch WSN until the girls came down for tea.

* * *

TA DA! Happy? Well I had tons of fun writing it. It just gets better. I promise enough gushy romance to put you into a sugar coma. Of course it will be a bit on the funny side. We can't let them have a normal life can we?

Let me know what you think. I love to hear from you. I hadn't considered publishing this until I started getting requests to put out a sequel.

Lea Marie


	17. Part 2: Back to School

Monday morning came much too soon and Harry found himself sneaking out of Ginny's apartment around 6am. He ran into a few students in the hall and hoped that he didn't look like a complete mess. He would have to bring some stuff over to Ginny's apartment so he could shower and change there. At least he could try and make it look like they hadn't spent the entire night shagging like nymphomaniacs. Ginny was right, they need to try and get some decent sleep one of these days.

That is if they could keep their hands off each other, which didn't seem likely.

Harry smiled thinking about his relationship with Ginny. It's true he had dated a lot of girls. But he honestly had never wanted any of them as much as he craved Ginny. It was like an addiction. Would it always be like this? He couldn't imagine not wanting her any less than he did now. He loved everything about her; from her fiery temper to her incredible sense of humor. The fact that she had a rocking body and was amazing in bed, how lucky could one guy get.

As he was getting dressed he looked in the mirror. He was sunk. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't wipe the goofy grin off his face. How could he? He had spent the entire weekend making love to the woman he had been fantasizing about for the last ten years. Could they blame him if he couldn't stop smiling like an idiot?

He met Ginny for breakfast in the Great Hall. They took seats next to each other towards the end of the table. He was so glad when he noticed she was wearing her very own coy smile. At least he wasn't alone.

They couldn't help but steal glimpses of each other, trying hard not to grin like fools. Professor Trelawney noticed their peculiar behavior.

"Professor Weasley, you are looking quite radiant this morning. I will have to consult your star chart to see if there is a special alignment of the Earth, Mercury, the Sun and Venus. I do believe it favors the Leo. That is the time your love aura is its most vibrant. If you don't already have a beau, now would be the time to look."

"Why thank you Professor Trelawney. I do feel quite well today," she replied as she smiled behind her tea cup.

The aging professor looked next at Harry. Since his return she has noticed a change in him. Instead of the angry boy with the constant aura of gloom, he now possessed a sense of focused maturity. But if she wasn't mistaken, today he looked almost giddy. She stared intensely at him, "You are also a Leo Professor Potter. I will have to consult your chart as well. I have never seen your aura quite as bright as it is today. It's a nice change from the mortal peril you were constantly surrounded by while you were younger. I wonder….," she continued to mumble to herself as she pulled one of her tatted books from her carpet bag. She hoped to get a peak at their tea cups before the house elves took them.

Harry walked Ginny to her classroom and as soon as they had crossed the threshold he sealed the door and pressed her against the wall.

He wasn't alone in his need as Ginny's fingers made fast work of his belt and trousers.

"How much time do we have?" he asked as he nibbled behind her ear.

"Oh Merlin," she sighed as she melted like putty in his hands. "I think about ten minutes," she barely got out.

"That's plenty of time," he said as he hiked Ginny's leg up around his hip. "Blimey I love it when you wear skirts."

"I don't have many," she commented. Followed quickly by, "Wow, that's bloody brilliant," borrowing one of the phrases he commonly used.

"Love, we're going shopping this weekend and buying you a closet full." How he was still making coherent conversation was a mystery. "Damn. Sorry about that. We'll get you a ton of new knickers to replace those."

"No worry's I didn't like them anyway. Stop talking and get moving," she demanded.

"Bloody hell you are hot when you get pushy," he moaned.

As they were getting redressed there was a knocking on the classroom door.

"Shit!" they both whispered.

Harry threw on his invisibility cloak and got behind the door. He would make a quick exit and go up into his office. The students wouldn't be the wiser when he came down his stairs into his classroom. He had been late before.

As he righted himself he realized that he still had Ginny's knickers in his hand. He stuffed them into his pocket. How was he going to get through his morning knowing they were there? He wouldn't be able to function and he certainly couldn't put them in is desk. That just spelled disaster.

As quietly as he could he used his wand to put them to rights and then magically sent them to reappear on Ginny. He almost laughed out loud when he heard her squeak. When her students looked at her a bit funny he almost lost it again. But at least they weren't in his pocket anymore. Concealment charm or not, how could he have been expected to think straight with a reminder of their quickie in his pocket?

Proud of his own ingenuity he made his way out the door and up to his office.

During a class break that afternoon Harry nonchalantly strolled into Ginny's classroom hoping for a quick snog. Unfortunately she had a student with her.

"Can I help you Professor Potter?" she asked. It wasn't hard for him to notice the slightly disappointed look on her face as her eyes glanced to her student.

"I was, um… just coming over to discuss the house Quidditch teams match with Hufflepuff."

"Oh, well I promised Phillip that I would review his paper with him. Maybe we can meet later?"

Harry tried not to look too disappointed, "Sure, later is fine Professor Weasley."

Unfortunately, later turned out to be after their last class of the day. Harry was going insane; they had spent an entire weekend tangled between the sheets and hadn't gotten dressed until Hermione's floo call. After their little adventure this morning he'd only seen Ginny at lunch and if he didn't kiss her soon his mood was going to go downhill fast. He didn't' know what was wrong with him, he had gone six years not talking to her and now he could barely go a few hours without kissing her. When had he become such a sap?

The rest of the week went by in a haze. The days were filled with classes, Quidditch practices and every now and then a quick snog in one of their empty classrooms. The nights, well…it's amazing how well a person can function with only three to four hours of sleep.

On Friday Harry and Ginny made a trip down to the Greenhouses. During the week they had made plans with Neville and Gabrielle to go out to dinner in Muggle London.

"Well look over there love," said Neville loudly to his wife as he pointed to his friends, "It's the talk of the castle! The famous Harry Potter and the very lovely Ginny Weasley."

"Shut it Nev," said Ginny good naturedly. She went up and gave her friend and his wife a hug. She looked over to Gabrielle, "You know ever since this guy sliced Tom Riddle's snake in half with Gryffindor's sword he's been impossible to deal with."

Gabrielle reached over and patted Neville on the cheek, "Yes, but he is so dashing that I just can't help myself," she said as she leaned in and kissed him.

"Oh, don't keep filling his head with that garbage," laughed Harry, "You're making him even more impossible to deal with."

"Oi," said Neville, "My beautiful wife can't help it if she's married to the most handsome bloke at Hogwarts."

All three of them groaned.

"Enough about me," said Neville. "My floo has practically been going nonstop with all of our friends calling. Are you two going to make this public soon so I can get some rest?"

"It's only been a week, how can everyone know already?" asked Harry. "We haven't even told her family yet. Well besides Ron and Hermione."

"Are you kidding!" exclaimed Neville. "After the way you two were acting at your party and the way this place has been going crazy? You two have just been too caught up with each other to notice."

"We're not that bad," said Harry. They couldn't have been that oblivious, could they?

Gabrielle nodded, "Even being down in the lower greenhouses doing research I hear things about you two. I don't know if the kids are more excited that you are a couple or that you've been so lost in la la land that you hardly give them any homework. Though, the girls have been disappointed that there isn't much news about Harry. He was Teen Witch's favorite cover story." She went over to another work table and pulled out a colorful magazine. "A student left this behind in one of the greenhouses a few weeks ago. It's old but I thought you might want to see it."

On the cover were Harry and one of his "flavors of the week" at a Muggle bar. The photo was a still shot so it must have been taken with a Muggle camera. The caption read "_Harry the Hottie out at a pub in London with ANOTHER Muggle!__ Wizarding world's mysterious most eligible bachelor was out with yet again a different girl this past weekend. Harry looked fabulously yummy in his snug black jeans, oxford shirt and sports coat, his hair the forever windblown mass of black waves which has witches all over Britain dreaming to run their fingers though it. His lucky Muggle friend was treated to a dinner at a tasteful Italian restaurant and then drinks and dancing at Dodgers, Harry's favorite Muggle pub. Yet again our hero bid his date goodnight at the door of the pub with a chaste kiss on the cheek and called taxi, prepaying the fair as every gentleman should. This seems to be a trend as we have yet to see him date the same girl twice. Some say even though he is now teaching at Hogwarts and amazing his students with his mastery of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, he still prefers to socialize with Muggles. Will our handsome Harry ever meet the right girl and settle down? Maybe he is looking in the wrong place? Could the right witch make this playboy commit to a long term relationship?"_

Harry was in shock. He knew the reporters were hanging out in Hogsmeade trying to get any info they could. But he had no idea they were following him into the Muggle world. He looked up at his friends. Neville was about to burst and Ginny and Gabrielle were conspiratorially whispering behind their hands.

"HARRY THE HOTTIE!" he shouted. "Yummy!"

Neville lost his composure and burst out laughing bending over to try and catch his breath.

Harry continued to yell, "When was I named the wizarding world's most eligible bachelor?" then he repeated still in complete shock by the phrase, "YUMMY!"

"That's not even the best one," said Gabrielle trying to cover her fit of giggles. "My favorite was the one that tried to guess what your type of witch was. Young witches from all over Britain wrote in with their answers."

"Oh, was that the one where Romilda Vane wrote an exact description of herself?" asked Ginny who was also laughing but quieted as soon as she got a cross look from her boyfriend.

"Yep," said Neville who by now had regained his ability to speak. "She went on and on about how he was just sewing this wild oats and she knew that someday he would come back and sweep _some witch _off her feet. We all knew she was talking about herself."

Harry looked accusingly at Ginny, "How come you never told me about these."

"Oh, come on love. You were throwing yourself at anything in a skirt. I wasn't about to stand in your way."

"I thought it would make you notice me," he said a bit harshly. "I was trying to make you jealous."

She leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Oh, don't worry it worked. I was furious. Therefore I didn't tell you about Witch Weekly or Teen Witch."

"I hate to say it Harry, but you did give them a lot of good material," said Gabrielle as she high fived Ginny in a statement of female solidarity.

"You mean there is more?" he asked his voice filled with dread.

"Oh, this one is old and this magazine comes out every week. I'll borrow a scrapbook from one of my students and we can have a good laugh over a bottle of wine," said Ginny, now feeling a bit sorry for Harry. It was a huge invasion of his privacy. Though a small part of her was glad that he was paid back for all the women he paraded in front of her.

"I don't think I will be laughing," he said as he slumped onto a stool.

Ginny leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry love, I'll cheer you up."

Harry's eyes lit up and he nodded his head vigorously.

"What surprised me is that they haven't printed a word about you two when it is all anyone in the castle is talking about," said Neville. "All they've said is that there must be someone new because you haven't been seen out on the town lately."

"Well we haven't seen today's yet," said Gabrielle, "It comes out on Fridays."

"Oh, I hope my mum doesn't see it," said Ginny.

"We would have gotten a howler by now," said Harry. "She loved to send them to Ron every time he got into trouble. Let's just hope that we're not on the cover or Sunday is going to pain in the arse."

Ginny nodded, "We are having dinner with the family. We had planned on letting everyone know then. Why don't you two join us? Mum has been asking about you. With the girls keeping them so busy Hermione and Ron hardly have a chance to go anywhere and I am sure they would love to catch up with you both."

"That would be lovely," said Gabrielle. "With my family so far away in the states I don't get to see them very often. It would be nice to visit with yours. They do remind me of my family quite a bit."

"You poor thing," said Ginny as she reached over and hugged Gabrielle again. "Are you sure you want to hang out with my crazy bunch. I would think a reprieve from all that insanity would be a welcome change."

"You'd be surprised. Sanity is not all it's trumped up to be. I miss my three sisters, we are very close. I can't believe it but I miss my dad's fascination with garden gnomes. My mum's an outrageously good cook, she taught us all pretty well, but it's just not the same."

"You should taste her mum's fish and chips, its bloody life-changing," said Neville. His eyes sort of glazed over remembering the several dinners he had enjoyed in Salem at Gabrielle's parents house.

At the mention of food the two young couples decided it was time to head into Muggle London for dinner.

Before they met up again Gabrielle did some searching and barrowed a new copy of Witch Weekly from a student. She couldn't wait to see Harry and Ginny's reaction.

While they were waiting for their drinks Gabrielle set the magazine in front of Harry.

On the cover was another picture of him with the headline _Still no Sign of our Handsome Hero by Romilda Vane__. _We are all wondering the same thing: Has Britain's Most Eligible Wizard been taken off the market? It has been several weeks now and there is still no sign of Harry. Has a Muggle snatched him up? This reporter thinks not. He wasn't at the school this past weekend so he must have gone into the Muggle world. Knowing our hero he was probably working undercover with the Ministry of Magic to help thwart dark forces. We certainly would have known if he had visited _any _wizarding establishments because this reporter would have captured it for you all to see. On a side note, rumors have been circulating that Harry has been spending a great deal of time with Professor Ginevra Weasley. Everyone has been asking: Are they together? Well this reporter knows the real story. Professor Weasley helps Harry coach the Gryffindor Quidditch team, so of course they _have_ to spend time together. It is also common knowledge that Harry is best friends with Professor Weasley's older brother Ron Weasley, keeper for the Chudley Cannons. Rest assured, Harry and Ginny are just close family friends. So the rumors of them pursuing a relationship are obviously false. It is this reporter's opinion that Harry prefers a girl who is much more glamorous than the plain Professor Weasley, so don't worry ladies Harry is still available.

"Yikes," said Harry. "I really have to watch my back don't I?"

"Rosalinda Vane is Romilda's younger sister so that is most likely where she is getting all her news. Romilda and her mother both write for Witch Weekly. One reason their articles are biased," said Neville with a laugh.

"That is obviously why your dating back in Hogwarts was overlooked and your current relationship dismissed," said Gabrielle, "I actually think this is the first time I've seen Ginny mentioned. The girl who let me borrow this said all they've talked about lately is that you have stopped going out with all the Muggle women. She's as shocked as I am that they haven't printed anything about Ginny. It seems the whole school knows that you two have been making good use of your empty classrooms and that Harry hasn't spent a single night in his room."

Neville laughed, "Oh don't look so shocked. I told you that my floo has been going nonstop. You're the biggest news going and I am sure the students are writing their families about it. It's just your dumb luck that Romilda is still so infatuated with you that she refuses to print anything about Ginny.

"Let's just hope that Teen Witch hasn't caught on," he said. "I am so glad the Profit has stayed out of this. Luckily their new team of writers doesn't see my love life as news."

"After the war they really tried to improve their image," said Ginny, "Rita Skeeter was let go. No surprise, she is now writing for Teen Witch. But I think Hermione has her so scared that she rarely prints anything about you. It's mostly the other young reporters."

"Oh joy," said Harry sarcastically. "I'm torn. Do we let the press know about our relationship just to shut them up? Or maybe we should just let them continue to make stuff up about me. At least then you don't have to be involved."

"Oh love that's so sweet. I think," said Ginny as she gave him a quick kiss. "But I'm a big girl and I can handle myself. What could they print about us that could make a difference?"


	18. Part 2: Goblin Boxes

Hello everyone: Again: strong T rating. Let me know if you think I have gone over the top. I always love to hear from you so drop me a review if you have the time. Thanks to everyone who is following this with Story Alert and Favorite Story. Lea Marie

* * *

Saturday morning was the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. It was a great game. Hufflepuff had some amazing new players that gave the Gryffindor team a challenging win.

After the game they decided to move Ginny's belongings from her London apartment to Harry's house. It was easy because Ginny didn't really have any furniture, just clothing and personal items.

They went from room to room summoning Ginny's things with a simple charm. Harry had tried to help with the packing charm but after he had broken and repaired several items Ginny convinced him to just help gather and she would send everything neatly into the boxes.

"Its ok love," she tried to console him. "It took me years to get my packing charms as neat as they are. I am the charms professor after all."

Harry still looked crestfallen.

"I am sure if it was a big bad death eater you could take care of them right quick," she said trying to make him feel better.

"I'm glad the press isn't around," he said with a sigh as he held some things mid air waiting for her to pack them. "Could you imagine them going on about my shoddy charm skills."

Ginny was so focused on her task that she was hardly noticing what she was packing. She just wanted to get it done and over with. She hated tedious charm work. She did it all day in school, showing the same charms over and over again until her students perfected them. She was lost in her own thoughts when Harry startled her.

"What was that?" he asked as he saw a bundle of parchment wrapped in green ribbon fly by.

Ginny turned to him, her wand halting everything in mid air, "What was what?"

"I saw a green ribbon go by. It looked like it was around some letters," he was searching the boxes now trying to find them, his heart beating out of his chest with worry. He was going to kill Hermione if she gave them to Ginny.

Trying to sound innocent Ginny asked, "What green ribbon?" Her traitorous eyes glanced downward to where it was peaking out of a half opened box. If she could just flick her wand without Harry noticing she could close it.

Her heart sank as he followed her eyes and lifted the bundle. "This green ribbon, tied around the letters I wrote to you while we were separated," he said, his gorgeous green eyes ablaze with what looked like anger. He definitely did not look happy.

"Oh," she said with a bit more exaggeration than necessary, "that green ribbon." She tried to give her best "_who me"_ smile. He wasn't falling for it.

"How did you get them?" he demanded. "They've been tucked away in the den behind your favorite…" he stopped remembering sending her there to get a book to read. He felt like such an arse; _of course she would go right to her favorite book_.

Ginny interrupted his thoughts, "It was purely on accident and I didn't even know what they were until I got a closer look. If it had been you could you have resisted?" She gave him a pleading look, hoping to stem some of his obvious anger. "I've only had a chance to read a few of them." She flicked her wand to quickly fold up the boxes she was working with then went over to Harry and kissed him, "You bloody git you made me cry. You should have given them to me ages ago. I would have been able to fall in love with you all over again much sooner. Look at all the time we've wasted."

Any anger Harry had felt towards the invasion of his privacy was long gone. She had said she was in love with him. "Say that again," he asked.

"What?" she asked a bit distracted as his strong hands rubbed circles on her lower back easily releasing any tension. One of his thumbs came around and started rubbing small circles low on inside of her hip and he knew that drove her crazy. "Oh," she realized. Had she not told him yet? "I'm in love with you and I practically went though an entire box of tissues reading those bloody things." She got a bit choked up remembering some of his words, "If I had only realized…" she couldn't help the tears that were now falling down her cheeks and onto his shirt.

"Shh," he said trying to comfort her. "I was the one who didn't send them. Like I've told you before, I didn't think I deserved you. I still don't. When I woke up this morning holding you, I thought I was still dreaming."

She wiped at her eyes, "Oh, shut it you big git. I don't want to hear that rubbish out of you again. I am in love with you and you are stuck with me, so just get over it already."

Harry laughed, "Well, if I have to." He bent down and kissed her. "And I love you too," he whispered in her ear sending a series of chills down her spine.

Soon they found themselves on top of the covers in Ginny's old bedroom. The packing would have to wait.

Unfortunately they forgot to shut the bedroom door.

When the four of them entered the apartment the first thing they noticed were the half packed boxes and the miscellaneous items strewn around the room. When they didn't see her right away they figured Ginny must be working in one of the other rooms. They were about to call for her when:

They heard some distinctive noises coming from her bedroom.

It was almost as if they had been hit with a petrificus totalus spell.

The girl's eyes went wide. Fred and George just looked at each other, at first mortified and then, with an evil grin.

"I take it Harry and Ginny decided to finish packing later," deadpanned George.

Meg and Hillary each smacked their respective fiancés and told them to be quiet, trying desperately to drag them back towards the front door.

Thankfully Ginny's room was not in their direct line of sight, the view would have scarred them all for life.

After a brief pause the banging of the headboard and the varied noises got faster and louder; much, much louder. At last the _symphony_ reached its crescendo and everything was eerily quiet.

"Bravo mate," said Fred breaking the silence. He and George both started clapping.

"I'd give it an 8.5," said George.

"Nah, it may have been a full 9 we only caught the last act."

The sounds of their cheering section quickly broke the haze of the couples post coital glow.

"Buggering Hell!" yelled Harry as he scrabbled for his wand and slammed the offending door shut.

"Oh my God!" said Ginny as she started to giggle. "How much do you think they heard?"

"From the clapping and the whistling, I would say enough," said Harry as he summoned their clothes. "Do you think they've left?" he asked as he continued to look for his missing shirt until he remembered that Ginny had helped him take it off in the living room.

"Knowing my brothers, no." she said with a groan realizing her t-shirt and bra were not there. She went over to a box in the corner to retrieve a new set. "Let's go face them before they have a chance to get away and tell the rest of my family."

Out in the living room, Fred and George unanimously decided that this was too good an opportunity to pass up. Especially after they watched two t-shirts and a lacey green bra fly across the room and hit Ginny's bedroom door.

With a flick of a wand they moved the sofa and sat down in grand anticipation to the fireworks yet to come. They conjured two bags of popcorn, extra butter of course. Let the games begin.

Ginny took a deep breath and opened her door. What she was met with practically knocked her off her feet. She stopped short causing a shirtless Harry to bump into her. He then realized that the twins were directly in front of her door sitting on the sofa and happily munching on popcorn.

"What in bloody hell are you two gits doing?" she fumed.

As expected, they ignored her. "You know George," said Fred, "I thought Harry, being the one who conquered old Moldy Shorts and all, would have known about something as simple as privacy charms."

"I guess we were mistaken," said George. "But then, isn't our dear baby sister the one responsible for teaching today's young witches and wizards charms, elementary and advanced? You have to wonder about the quality of their education."

"Get up you perverts," she shouted doing her best to keep a straight face. "Or would you like me to keep you here with a permanent sticking charm while Harry and I head back into my bedroom."

Fred and Georges complexions paled. It had been a great joke, but the thought of intentionally being there while their baby sister was having sex with Harry made them feel ill.

"No, that's ok sister dear, we were just trying to have a good laugh. Harry understands, don't you mate?"

Harry chuckled. Ginny was the only person who was capable of putting one over her brothers. "Hey, I've learned my lesson. I do whatever Ginny says and if she wants to go back into her room for round two than who am I to complain." He wrapped his arms around her waist and started to kiss her neck.

Ginny just smiled evilly and reached up behind to wrap her arms around Harry's neck, "No love that would be round three, you forgot about this morning in the shower."

Harry's smile got even bigger. This was a delicious payback from when her brothers had tortured him at his house a few weeks ago.

"No that's ok," they said quickly as they stood up righted the sofa and made the popcorn disappear, "It was all just a gag."

Ginny smiled as she made her way to the kitchen where she was sure her friends were hiding.

Before she went though the door she turned to her brothers and smiled, "And by the way, that nickname you gave Harry; The Shagmaster. It's very well deserved."

The grin on Harry's face forced the other two to pick up the nearest sofa cushions and hurl them at his head. "Put a shirt on ya wanker!" shouted Fred.

Harry picked up his shirt and pulled it over his head. Feeling smug he leaned back on the sofa, clasped his hands behind his head and put his feet up on the coffee table. He loved to see the twins take a punch.

A few minutes later the three girls came out with tea.

"And by the way boys," said Ginny, "Don't even think about breathing a word of this to anyone, especially our family."

"Aw, come on Gin Gin you have to let us at least tell mum and dad that you two are an item," they protested.

"Not a word," she said sternly, "we plan on telling everyone at dinner on tomorrow. If I hear that either of you said a thing about us," she gave them a menacing glare. "If I were you I would learn to sleep with one eye open."

"No problem," they assured her.

After finishing up the move, Harry and Ginny spent the rest of the afternoon arranging Ginny's things around the house. It now looked more like a home and less like a bachelor pad. To Harry it felt like more of a home than it ever had. Especially when looking into his now much expanded closet and bathroom.

"Do you really need all these bottles?" he asked as he examined a bright pink bottle labeled Beauty Witch's Feminine Fineries. "Who needs four different types of lotion?" He then wandered back into his closet. "How many pairs of shoes do you own?" he asked with a dumbfounded look. "I think I have a total of five pairs. So far I've counted twenty boxes and I know we are no where near done."

Ginny stopped organizing her side of the closet and went over and kissed Harry on the cheek, "Love, don't question what you have no hopes of ever understanding," she patted his cheek then went back to organizing.

Just out of curiosity, before he put it on the shelf, Harry opened one of the boxes. Inside was a pair of black patent leather stilettos. He looked over at his girlfriend and imagined how hot her legs would look in those shoes. Then he thought how great she would look in just those shoes and nothing else.

He really needed to stop asking stupid questions. As far as he was concerned Ginny could have as many pairs of shoes she wanted, as long as he got to see her in these everyone once in a while.

He went over to her and showed her the box, "Please for the love of Merlin warn me if you are going to wear these. I can almost guarantee we won't make it out of the bedroom."

She smiled, "Oh, you like these?" she asked with a mischievous grin. She plucked the shoes out of the box and slid them on her feet the four inches now allowing her to look him in the eyes. She could almost feel the heat emanating from him as he looked at her like she was treacle tart. "Wait till you see the red ones," she teased.

Harry gulped, "Red," he squeaked out.

She nodded as she moved a bit closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned in and whispered, "If you are really good little wizard I might decide to wear them along with a matching negligee."

His eyes practically popped out of his head, "The one with all the ribbons I like to untie?"

She nodded as she backed up a little so she could step out of her shorts and toss her t-shirt to the floor. She now stood in front of him wearing only a lacey bra and panties set and the black patent stilettos.

Harry thought this was surely what heaven must be like.

For the second time that day Ginny found herself pinned beneath Harry, this time against the wall of their closet. While he was kissing her she started to laugh.

"What?" he asked too overheated to think straight. All he was thinking about was how those shoes put her at the perfect height for shagging against a wall and more importantly how quickly he could get her bra and panties off. Why was she laughing?

"I'm sorry love," she giggled again. "I was just thinking about earlier today. I can just imagine the looks on the twin's faces when they first opened the door to my old apartment. We weren't exactly being quiet. As a matter of fact, I think we might need to go back and repair the spot on the wall where the headboard was hitting."

Harry chuckled, "I loved their faces when you told them I had earned the nickname Shagmaster."

"Well you have," she said before she pulled him in for another long kiss.

Harry stopped for a second, "Do you know how many places in this house we can christen without having to worry about interruptions? The whole place is surrounded by privacy wards. It's set up so someone can't get in unless we invite them, each and every time. I set them that way so I wouldn't have to worry about the press or over zealous fan club members."

"Namely Romilda," said Ginny with a grin.

"Especially Romilda," he agreed.

"I like the way you think Potter. Merlin knows my mum is going to go insane when she finds out about this. Even with my things here she is still going to go crazy with decorating ideas."

"Well, let's not kill the mood by thinking about family. I have spent a lot of time fantasizing about you all over this house in various stages of undress and now that I've seen you in those shoes my imagination has kicked into overdrive."

Ginny tried to look shocked but based on their recent behavior she was not surprised. They were young and in love with an insatiable need for each other. Why fight it?

Several hours later they were exhausted but starved. That had been one of their more interesting and creative locations. Who knew an empty closet bar could come in so handy?

Harry apparated out and got Thai take away and then they snuggled up in the den to watch some mindless TV. Even though they have known each other for years and had even dated in the past everything still seemed new. Like they were rediscovering what they loved so much about each other. Sure there was an obvious physical attraction but there was also something greater something that connected them on a higher level. They were finally where they were always meant to be.

Later that night when they were in bed Ginny was snuggled next to Harry absentmindedly twirling her hair over his bare chest. They were talking about Quidditch and the Cannons chance for the world cup.

Harry couldn't imagine his life any better than it was at that moment. There he was young, strong a great job that he loved and living in house that he helped build with the woman of his dreams. Only one thing could make it more perfect.

"Marry me," he said completely interrupting her train of thought.

She looked at him in shock her eyes growing as wide as saucers. Did she hear him right?

He smiled and clasped her small hand in his. "Marry me," he repeated his voice now strong and confident.

She smiled, "Sure."

Harry beamed and pulled her into a kiss. "I was just thinking how life couldn't be any more perfect. But then I realized it would be if I could have this forever."

"Sweet Potter, very sweet," she laughed as she kissed him again.

"Oh, here wait a minute," he said as he leaned over and rummaged through his nightstand. Ginny couldn't help but enjoy the view it presented. Harry had an incredible bottom.

He got himself comfortable again and pulled Ginny back in next to him. He opened an engraved box that looked like it had goblin markings on it. Inside were three rings. "These were my parents." He pulled out the engagement ring and held it up for her to see. "I believe this now belongs to you."

Ginny gasped as he slipped the ring onto her finger, it was perfect.

"They look Goblin," she said as she felt the metal warm to her skin.

"They've been in the Potter family for generations. They are charmed to remain as a set, if I am not mistaken our names will engrave in the box once we are married. It is sort of a family tree."

"How sweet," she said as she took the box to look inside. The last names listed were James and Lilly Potter married August 1, 1978. Under that it read, Harry James Potter born July 31, 1980.

"You do know that mum is going to go mental with wedding planning," she said as she fiddled with the box to look at all its fine details.

Harry laughed, "My thought is to just let her go crazy. All that matters to me is that I get to marry you." He looked down at her, "Do you want a big wedding?"

"No not really. I would want something small and quiet. But I really don't see how that is going to be possible. You are the closest thing to wizarding royalty there is. The press is going to go barking mad. They've been camped outside the school since the second week of September waiting for something big to happen. This is going to throw them into a frenzy."

Ginny looked up when she felt Harry's mood shift. "Oh, don't start going all broody on me. There is nothing we can do about your celebrity. It just is. You've seen the articles. No matter how insignificant something is to you they feel it is their right to print it. Can you imagine how they are going to react to you getting married?"

"I know, but I wish the press would just get the hint and find someone else to bother. This has nothing to do with anyone but us. The fate of the world doesn't depend on our wedding. I want this to be private." He looked at her, "let's not think about those trolls. What do you think? We can have a nice dinner, an open bar and a dance floor. As you could see the other night my dancing skills have greatly improved, I didn't tread on your toes once. We could even let Fred and George light off some fireworks. The sky is the limit." Ginny could see the excitement in his eyes. She hoped she wouldn't have to disappoint him.

"Well I don't think my family is going to be able to afford the sky's the limit type wedding, but I am sure my mom will go as far as her budget allows."

"Oh, don't worry about that love. We can pay for it."

"Oh Harry you know how they are. They are not going to want you to pay for a thing."

"I'm not paying for it, we are," he tried to reason with her.

"Oh love you know they are not going to see it that way. They are very traditional and to them it is the bride's family that pays for everything."

Harry smiled as he came up with a devious plan, "We will just tell them that Serious and my parents put aside galleons for the wedding of their only child and godchild. It is true, this money was set aside for me and I am marrying you so therefore it is yours as well. So they are paying for it."

"Brilliant," said Ginny as she snuggled in closer. "Your logic is completely barmy but if anyone can convince them it's the right thing to do it's you. I know my mum has been planning this for ages and I am sure with all of us contributing she could put together the wedding of her dreams."

"Hey, where do you want to go on our honeymoon?" he asked. "We can plan it for the end of June so we don't have to be back until the second week of August. That should give us plenty of time to get ready for the school year."

"What?" she said surprised. "Harry isn't that a bit much. How can we afford a two month long honeymoon on our salaries? I mean I know you are comfortable and my salary will certainly help, but we have to be realistic."

"I love it when you say we," he said as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Gin, you really don't have to worry about the money."

"What!" she exclaimed as she sat up and turned to look at him. "Of course I do. It's not like we have an endless supply of it you know. It wouldn't be wise to blow most of your inheritance on our wedding and honeymoon. We need to start thinking about the future."

He kissed her again, he loved to hear her say "we" and "our future." He had a pretty damn good future to look forward to for a bloke who wasn't expected to live past the age of seventeen. He continued, "Gin, we'll be just fine." He took a deep breath. He hated to talk about his inheritance, but Ginny had the right to know every detail. "I have never let on to the amount of my inheritance because I didn't want to embarrass myself or sound like a prat."

He looked her straight in the eye to get his point across, "Gin, I am the sole heir to the Potter and Black family vaults. If we manage it well our great-grandchildren won't have to worry about money."

She thought about it for a moment then asked, "How come you've never lived like the Malfoy's or any of the other wealthy families I know? I mean this house is great but it's not a castle like Malfoy Manor."

"Do you want a castle?" he innocently asked.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Heavens no."

"Good, either do I," he said with a grin, "How about this. I have to meet with the goblins tomorrow morning to check on everything. Why don't you come with me and have a look see? I want you to know everything and we'll need to have a key made for you."

"What do you mean have a key made for me?" she asked.

"Did you think we would have separate bank vaults?" he chuckled. "Gin, as far as I am concerned as soon as you said yes, whatever was mine is now ours."

"But, but," she faltered, "I don't want your money. I've never had money."

"It's not that hard Gin, just don't go and start ordering solid gold toilet seats and we'll be fine."

She was sort of dumbstruck, "I'd never even worn new clothes until I got my first job, mum always shopped in second hand stores."

Harry thought it was sweet. "And I never had new clothes until I got my first uniform for Hogwarts." He laughed thinking back to what he must have looked like as a child, "The Dursley's always gave me Dudley's old clothes, which were four sizes too big." He took her hands in his, "Gin, you know I don't care about the money. With everything I've been through I've learned to value the people around me more than the galleons in my vault. Wouldn't you still love me if I was as poor as a church mouse?"

She nodded her head, "Well of course I would."

"Well than I hope you still love me even if we have as many galleons than that awful bunch of snobby aristocrats."

Ginny rolled her eyes and flopped back into his arms, "Of course I still love you, you big git. It's just going to take a bit of getting used to."

Harry smiled down at her, "It does come in handy," he said as he hugged her closer. "It allowed me to go to Oxford and to travel a bit. The Quidditch pitch I know is a bit much, but ever since I learned to fly it was the one thing I always wanted."

Ginny looked up at him and chuckled, "Well Mr. Potter, now that you have me." She narrowed her eyes a bit, "And I do know that is why you took the job at Hogwarts, because it was certainly not for the money. Are you going to stay on and continue to teach?"

Harry knew he should look shocked, but as he thought about it. It was pretty obvious why he was there. "Of course I am going to stay on and continue to teach. I love my job." He thought about it some more. "I don't think I will ever not work, that's not who I am. But I would certainly like to give you that option."

"You mean stay home and raise kids like my mum did?"

"If that is what you want, than yes. It's all up to you. Merlin Gin, you can choose a new career if you wish. I've always thought that you should play professional Quidditch."

"I've never considered it before, but I would love to think on it."

"Sure," he said with a smile. "Now let's think about how we are going to tell your family tomorrow."


	19. Part 2: Sunday Dinner

Yikes, to say I was surprised by the lack of response to that last chapter would be an understatement. I was expecting all kinds of ohh and ahh's. Never the less I will prevail. After all fanfiction is about creativity not applause. So yes, I am not one of the writers who won't continue if she gets no reviews. I'll just go and cry silently into my coffee cup . Just kidding! Well, here is the next installment. Enjoy. Lea Marie

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Sunday dinner was going to be at Harry's house and everyone was expected to be over around 3pm.

Ginny had not yet told her family of her plans to move in with Harry so it was going to be a bit of a surprise for everyone that they were now getting married. If Fred and George were able to keep their big mouths shut her parents might not even know that she and Harry were a couple.

Molly and Arthur were the first to arrive. Molly went directly to the kitchen and began pulling out about a dozen miniaturized dishes that she had already prepared.

"Mum," said Ginny as she eyed the many dishes that Molly had just magically enlarged, "do you need any help?"

"Of course Ginny dear, I am sure you are a bit more familiar with Harry's kitchen than I am. Why you young kids insist upon merging wizard and muggle appliances is a mystery."

Amazingly Molly was so focused on organizing her things that she hadn't yet noticed Ginny's new ring or the changes to the house.

"Harry," asked Arthur, "Would you mind terribly showing me that mechanical device that washes dishes. The auto–washer was it?"

"You mean the dishwasher?" he replied.

"Yes, that's the ticket. Molly put up quite a fuss about it and it has been on my mind ever since."

"Yes," laughed Harry, "Kreacher hates it too. I only use it when he goes off to Hogwarts or Grimuald place."

Meanwhile, Ginny was kept busy preparing the salad and starting the pudding. Molly was like a whirling dervish pointing her wand at several pots and sending several bowls to mixing.

It was when Arthur was ducking his head into the dishwasher that they heard several bowls crash to the countertop and Molly let out an excited squeal.

Arthur successfully banged his head on the inside of the dishwasher and came up rubbing his bald spot. "Good heavens Molly what is it,' he asked concerned.

She just stood there frozen holding her apron to her mouth and pointing at Ginny.

"Is that?" she asked with a shaking voice. "Is that what I think it is?"

Harry went and stood next to Ginny, "You mean the carrot peeler. It's quite old," he knew he was being cruel but he couldn't help himself.

Molly shook her head.

"Oh," said Harry in an exaggerated manner. "You mean this," he said as he lifted Ginny's left hand to show her.

Molly nodded her head.

"It was my mum's engagement ring," he said looking like the cat that got the cream.

Ginny smiled brightly, "Harry proposed last night."

Harry leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the lips still in awe that she had said yes.

They all dashed over to Molly as they saw her wobble and drop towards the floor. Luckily they caught her just in time.

"Molly dear," said Arthur a bit worried, "Are you ok?"

Molly's eyes came back into focus as they lifted her onto a stool. Ginny flicked her wand and produced a glass of water.

It was right at this same time that most of the remaining Weasley clan arrived and of course went straight to the kitchen to say hello to their mum and dad.

"What is going on!" asked Bill who along with his other brothers had rushed over to their dazed mother.

"Ginny," she whispered after she took a sip of water. "She and Harry," she managed in another whisper.

"She and Harry what?" asked a frustrated Ron, his mother couldn't be this much of a wreck just because they were dating again, could she?

"She and Harry are engaged," she said. She shook her head a bit to clear her thoughts and then managed a bit louder and stronger. "GINNY AND HARRY ARE GETTING MARRIED!" she almost yelled with glee.

Everyone's head practically snapped in the direction of the young couple who were now sitting up on the opposite counter top. Harry lifted Ginny's hand to show the ring, of course smiling like an idiot the entire time.

"Well I'll be," said Arthur in shock, finally putting all of it together. "That's wonderful news," he said excitedly. He reached over and shook Harry's hand. "Well done my boy, well done! Welcome to the family."

"Thanks Mr. Weasley," said Harry, truly grateful for having such a wonderful family to be a part of.

"None of that now son, you can call me dad if you're going to marry my baby girl."

"Alright then, dad," said Harry a bit shocked by his sentiment.

"Blimey you work fast," said Ron as he too went over and shook Harry's hand then brought him in for a manly hug.

"Couldn't help myself," said Harry with a grin.

By this time all the remaining family members had gathered round and were joyfully congratulating the happy couple. Meg, Hillary, Hermione, Fleur and Gabrielle practically shoved the men out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"All right, all right," said Bill. "We can take a hint." He gave a devious smile, "We want to have a little chat with Harry anyway."

"Blimey Harry the last I knew you two had just started dating again, now you're engaged. How long did you two actually date for before you asked her to marry you?" asked a shocked Neville.

"I asked her last night, so technically about a week." He wanted to get everything out in the open before her brothers contemplated killing him. So on a more serious note, he continued, "I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her back in Hogwarts. I just didn't think I would survive to experience it. Unfortunately I was so messed up after the war that I didn't think I deserved her. So I left. It took a few years and Ron had to dig me out of a few kegs, but I got my head on straight. I've already given you some of the other details and there is no way I am about to repeat that conversation. So don't ask. "

A few of them snickered remembering Harry's amazing confession.

"Well, from what we witnessed yesterday, that certainly isn't the case any more," said Fred making sure that all his brothers were paying attention. They had been true to their word and not said anything to their parents. Now that Harry and Ginny had announced their engagement, it was time to have a bit of fun.

Bill was the first to bite, "What exactly did you witness?"

George's grin grew exponentially, "Let's just say Mr. Brilliant here was stupid enough to forget to put up privacy wards and we had the misfortune of catching the last act of the Harry and Ginny show, complete with sound effects. We were waiting for the bed to come crashing through the wall!"

"WHAT!" yelled Charlie.

"Why would you think they would come through the wall," asked a clueless Percy.

Fred and George looked at him in amazement, "Seriously?" they asked.

"Little Gin Gin wasn't phased that we heard them shagging like bloody centaurs and had the nerve to tell us that the git was now well deserving of the nickname we had given him," said Fred as he gestured towards Harry who was trying hard to melt into the floor.

George continued, "If she didn't love the sod so much I would think she had done it all intentionally just to get back at us."

Ron finally spoke up, "You mean you walked in on them… shagging?" he laughed at them, "I thought I had it bad the other day trying to ignore the stupid grin he couldn't wipe off his face."

Harry tried to look humble trying his hardest to not let the grin reappear. Every time he thought of Ginny it came back.

"You knew!" they all yelled.

"Of course I knew he's my best mate. It's not like I asked him for details. Do you think I'm bloody mental?" said Ron sarcastically.

Bill deciding to be the voice of reason before they got too riled up and decided to inflict some serious harm, "Let's just try and remember that he did ask her to marry him and how happy it is making mum. We know he would never hurt her, right Harry?" he asked.

With this Harry looked at them all and nodded, "I told you I never would. This is for keeps. She's stuck with me for the rest of her life."

Back in the kitchen Molly was still nursing her tea she had still not said anything.

"But when did you start dating?" she asked out of the blue.

Ginny went and sat down next to her. "Well, we dated for a few weeks back in Hogwarts, my fifth year Harry's sixth. Then of course prince charming out there," she pointed to the living room, "took off for six years. Since he came back we've been playing cat and pixie around Hogwarts. Finally about a week ago he got me so bloomin' mad that I hexed him."

Everyone looked shocked, but a few found it quite amusing.

"He's lucky I was taking it easy on him," teased Ginny. "So naturally, right while I was building up steam, he kissed me. And the rest, they say, is history."

"Wait, wait, wait," chimed in Meg and Hillary, "You seem to be leaving out a few important details."

Ginny smiled innocently. "And they will remain left out. The rest is between Harry and me."

"Meaning we don't want to know," commented Fleur with a knowing grin.

"So mum wanting desperately to change the subject," asked Ginny, "how are you feeling?"

Molly leaned over and hugged her little girl, "Oh, you," she teased. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. It's not nice to trick an old woman like that."

"Mum, you are hardly old," laughed Ginny, "and if Fred and George's antics haven't scared you to death yet, than nothing will."

"You're right there," said Molly. "Now sit down and let me see that beautiful ring."

Molly brought Ginny's hand closer, "Oh, it is lovely. I remember when your father proposed, it was so romantic. How did Harry ask you?"

Ginny looked a bit worried, how could she tell her mother that he had asked her while they were in bed starkers?

"Well," said Ginny trying to think of the best way to phrase it. "He just asked me out of the blue. We were talking about Quidditch and all of a sudden he said, "Marry me."

Molly gave a knowing smile, "It's ok if you leave out a few details love, I understand. Your father and I were young once too."

Ginny grimaced, "Thank mum, I think." She smiled as she continued, "Well, after I said yes Harry looked at me and said that his life was now perfect."

"Oh, how romantic," gushed Hermione.

"I know," said Ginny with a sigh. "He told me that he had been thinking of how lucky he was and said that the only way he could think of making it more perfect is if he could have it forever. He went and got this beautiful goblin made box out his nightstand. It had all three rings in it. He was so sweet. He took out the engagement ring and said," with this Ginny lowered her voice to mimic Harry, "_I believe this one belongs to you_." She sighed again, remembering the incredibly romantic moment then continued, "The others are just as lovely. They have been in the Potter family for generations. The names of the past Potter family members who have worn them are in the box. Lilly and James were the last listed. Harry said our names will appear as soon as we get married."

Molly continued to wipe the tears from her eyes with her apron.

"Well I am just thrilled that you two are finally together. I don't think I have seen either of you this happy since Hogwarts," said Hermione. "You really are perfect for each other."

Molly regained her composure and took another sip of her tea. She couldn't help herself, "Let's talk wedding plans!" she said with excitement. "Fred and George have practically every detail of their weddings taken care of. They've gone and hired some eccentric planner who promises to make their weddings as unique as they are. They actually took me out to lunch bought me a dress and then went ahead and made arrangements for the beauty shop girl to do my hair and make up the day of the wedding!" Molly blushed a bit, "I feel like royalty."

"As you should mum," said Ginny as she turned and gave her mum a hug. "You've earned it after putting up with those two."

"So what about the wedding plans?" asked Hermione impatiently.

"Mum," said Ginny cautiously, "Harry told me that both his parents and Sirius had put aside galleons for his wedding."

Molly looked shocked, "Really?"

"Really," said Ginny, "It would be a shame to not honor their wishes and I would feel much better knowing that this was a joint venture between Harry's family and mine."

Molly thought about it. She knew Harry would be insulted if they didn't accept it but she also knew that as the bride's parents they should pay for most of it.

"Ginny," said Molly, still a bit hesitant.

"Look mum," said Ginny ready to argue her point. "Harry and I went to Gringotts this morning. He even had a key made for me." She summoned the key out of her purse and showed it to them. "Harry is the sole heir to the Potter and Black family vaults. If we manage it right we should be able to live comfortably for the rest of our lives." She put the key down and took both of her mothers' hands in hers, "Mum, you've taught me well. I know the importance of a galleon well saved and a galleon well spent and so does Harry. This is not us being foolish. It is important to him that we use his inheritance for this. It's the only thing he has left of his family. For him it's like making them a part of it."

Molly looked like she was going to tear up again, "I know Ginny." She took a deep breath and continued. "If that is what you and Harry want than your father and I will agree to it."

Ginny leaned over and hugged her mother tightly, "Thanks mum."

"But don't expect me to plan this entire thing on my own," said Molly.

"Of course not," said Ginny, "Though, I actually thought you would have most of it planned out by now."

Molly gave an affronted look then smiled, "Well, I do have a little book put aside with ideas in it."


	20. Part 2: Mixed Reviews

To say the news flew around the castle like friendfire would be an understatement. The fact that Professors Potter and Weasley were engaged was all any of the girls and some of the staff could talk about. Monday morning's breakfast was buzzing with rumors and excitement.

"I heard that Filch caught them snogging in the third floor broom cupboard," said an overexcited sixth year.

"I heard that they were shagging when he found them," said another girl.

"I knew the rumors in Witch Weekly weren't true. That Romilda Vane is so obsessed with Professor Potter that I bet she refused to print anything about him dating Professor Weasley, especially if it was true."

"Well, I don't care what is going on as long as it keeps those two in good moods I'm happy. I don't think they have given out homework all week!"

The couple in question was up at the head table enjoying their breakfast, but at the same time noticing all of the whispering and staring. 

"Professor Weasley," said Harry in a whisper as he leaned over towards Ginny. "I think the word is out."

Just as he leaned over it seemed as if the volume in the great hall rose.

"Oh, I think you are absolutely right Professor Potter," she said with a smile as she remained looking out over the hall. Just for good measure she lifted her goblet up with her left hand. She almost choked on her pumpkin juice at the gasps she heard. She looked over to see Harry smiling at her.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?"

Ginny just smiled as she took a bite out of her muffin. They had met with McGonagall that morning and agreed that she could make the announcement; a little teaser was good fun.

As soon as the headmistress approached the podium the hall fell silent. "Well, good morning students," she said with a bit of a smile.

"We have some exciting news to start our week. Please join me in congratulating Professors Potter and Weasley on their recent engagement," the entire hall erupted in cheers and applause."

"We ask that each of you respect their privacy and refrain from speaking to the press. I am well aware that reporters are still camped outside our gates like vultures waiting for any bit of news they can get. Professors Potter and Weasley are valuable members of our teaching staff and they rely upon the sanctity of Hogwarts to afford them a life of privacy away from the press and the celebrity it wants to force upon them." She looked back at the couple who each in turn lifted a glass and nodded in agreement. "Now, that is that! Everyone is dismissed."

The sound of the benches sliding echoed throughout the hall. Harry and Ginny went up to Professor McGonagall. "Thank you for that professor. We really do want to keep this quiet but we knew that if we tried to keep it a secret from the students it would be blown completely out of proportion."

She looked at the young couple and smiled, "So quiet that the first I learn about you two dating was this morning when you announced your engagement to the staff."

Ginny smiled shyly, "Now really Professor McGonagall, I am sure you have suspected something. You've always known exactly what is going on at your school."

"Well," she smiled thinly, "I may have known a few things." She looked at them with a bit of a twinkle in her eyes, "You two really should learn to seal the classroom door, even if it is after hours." She walked away leaving Harry and Ginny in a bit of shock.

The first class of the day was impossible to settle down. Ginny just sat on her desk watching them.

"Ok, ok you bunch of gossip mongers," she chuckled. "Ask away."

Immediately hands went up.

"Yes, Amelia?" she asked.

"How long have you two been dating and how did Professor Potter ask you to marry him?"

"Well that just sums it up, now doesn't it? You must have been chatting with my mum."

Amelia smiled, proud that she was able to ask the questions that everyone wants to know the answers to.

"Well, how long we've been dating is between Professor Potter and I but I will let you know that he proposed this past Saturday."

"Was it romantic?" asked another girl.

Ginny smiled remembering just where they were when he asked. "Yes it was."

"Are you going to give us _any_ details about it?" asked Amelia.

Ginny smiled wider, "Um, no."

The entire class groaned and complained.

"I am sorry to disappoint but some things need to remain private. I hate to say this but because of Professor Potter's ever present fan club and the unrelenting press that seem to be waiting on his every move all the details of the wedding will remain a secret as well."

Another set of groans erupted, "Oh, just settle down. We gave you a week without homework, isn't that enough?"

"Does this mean we will be getting homework again?" asked a Ravenclaw boy.

"Um, yes," said Ginny with a smile. She would love to forget homework all together, but it was time to focus on her job again, though she was having a hard time trying not to stare at the beautiful ring on her left hand.

And then the owls started to arrive.

At first they were ok, a simple heartfelt congratulations from her family with comments on how excited they were for the wedding.

By the end of the week the requests started pouring in from her mother. When was the date being set, what colors did she want, what kind of dress would she want to look for. And on and on….

"Honestly I think we should elope," said Ginny leaning forward over her desk and putting her face in her hands.

Harry came up behind her and started to rub the knots out of her shoulders and back, "Merlin you're tense," he said as he applied a bit more pressure.

"She's relentless. Every day more questions and all I keep thinking about is how am I going to plan this wedding and prepare for final exams." She looked up at him, "Let's just cancel our afternoon classes and head to the nearest chapel. We can get Kingsly to marry us he owes me a favor anyway."

"Love, if I didn't think your family would come after me wands ablaze I would have had Kingsly waiting in the sidelines the day I proposed. But I love you and I will do anything to make you happy, including risk my own life. So if you want to run off and get married without our family and friends, let's go. But honestly, do you really want to be a widow that soon?"

"No, of course not and I don't want to disappoint my mum either. She has been looking forward to this since I was born. I haven't seen her this happy since her last grandchild was born. And don't even get me started on that. She has started hinting about it already mentioning that she was a month pregnant with Bill before she got married and it would be just fine with her if we decided to do the same."

Harry leaned over and hugged her from behind. "Wow," he said as he looked down at her hoping she would clue him in on how she felt about that. Finally she spoke up.

"I know you want kids as much as I do but we've never talked about when we wanted them. I may be selfish but I want to wait a few years. We just got back together and I really want to enjoy just the two of us for a while."

"Well," he said as he lifted her up and pulled her down into his lap, "I don't think you are being selfish at all because I agree with you. I don't want to change the way things are either. I am finally where I belong, with my one true love. The amazing witch that makes me complete and the only person I could imagine sharing the rest of my life with.

She was just about to get all gushy and comment on how romantic he was until he finished his statement.

"And I have years of pent up sexual tension to release and I think it is absolutely necessary that we shag nonstop for the next year or so. We haven't even tried some of the more adventurous fantasies I've had about you. Have I told you about the one where I cover you in raspberry jam?"

"Harry!" she exclaimed as she swatted him on the shoulder. "Here I thought you were being all romantic on me and all you're thinking about is the fact that I haven't let you cover me with jam."

He started laughing, "Well not all of you! Only my most favorite parts, it's sort of a jam bikini." He waggled his eyebrows and started to nibble on her neck. "Don't you go and play innocent with me young lady. Aren't you the one who used the binding charm the other night, on yourself!"

Ginny blushed but smiled wickedly remembering the earth shattering orgasm they had both experienced. "You loved it and you know it Potter."

"You are bloody right I loved it!" he said as he let his hands wander a bit. "What do you think got me thinking about the jam? Though in my fantasy I had used a sticking charm not a binding charm, I didn't think you would be keen on the ropes. Bloody hell was I wrong."

"You are such a perv," she said before she kissed him soundly.

"Yes, but you love it that I am such a perv. I've spent the last ten years dreaming up all kinds of wicked things to do to you."

"Why do you think I agreed to marry you? You my love are a fabulous shag."

Harry had to shift in the chair to get more comfortable. All this flirting was driving him mental. Realizing that he didn't have to suffer he pulled his wand out and quickly put up the privacy wards, "Can we be finished talking about the wedding. If I don't get you starkers in the next two seconds I will go absolutely mental."

"We wouldn't want that now would we," she said with a wicked grin as she quickly undid his school tie.

A while later they were laying on a conjured mattress gasping for breath. Harry was still amazed that Ginny wanted him as much as he wanted her and that her imagination was as gloriously vivid as his. He was just about to suggest that they get dressed when Neville's patronus arrived.

"Ok you two we know you're in there. We were supposed to meet up half an hour ago and when we realized that we couldn't open this door with a standard alohamora we figured you two were at it yet again. Get dressed because we have dinner reservations and I don't want to miss the movie."

"Pushy git," said Harry with a grin as he sent his patronus out telling Neville to bugger off and wait a few minutes and that he's lucky they were finished because otherwise he would have made him wait.

Two minutes later they pulled down the charms and met their friends at the door.

"Why Ginny you are absolutely glowing," teased Gabrielle.

Ginny laughed as she gave her friend a hug, "Oh its not like Harry and I didn't practically walk in on you and Nev getting freaky in greenhouse seven last week."

Gabrielle just smiled, "What can I say. I just can't resist him when he's got that little smudge of soil on his cheek."

At dinner Gabrielle pulled a magazine out of her purse and handed it to Harry and Ginny. "I wanted to wait until we had finished our first bottle of wine before I handed this to you," she said with a nervous grin.

On the cover of Teen Witch was a cute picture of Ginny and Harry walking out of a Hogsmeade shop holding hands. The picture Ginny and Harry looked at each other smiled and shared a small kiss.

_**Its Wedding Bells for the Wizarding Worlds Royal Couple Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley! By Emily Lloyd-Martin**_

_The joyous news was announced on Monday at Hogwarts by Headmistress McGonagall. With a bright smile and a sparkle in her eye she announced the engagement to the students. The week prior to the announcement several students commented that they had not seen either of their professors this happy before and found it charming that the couple would often be found steeling a quick kiss while they thought no one was watching. Since the announcement students have been tight lipped saying that they are protecting the privacy of their favorite teachers. We were able to find out that it was a very romantic proposal and that Ginny is now proudly wearing Harry's mother's engagement ring, a lovely Goblin made family heirloom that has been in the Potter family for generations._

_Harry and Ginny were spotted shopping in Hogsmeade looking truly in love with eyes only for each other. Mildred Sickleworth a shopkeeper for Wizard Home and Garden Supply informed us that she had the privilege of helping the young couple purchase items for their home. Mildred laughed as she recalled Harry teasing his future bride about her reluctance to use her new vault key. She said that Ginny blushed adorably as Harry kissed her on the forehead in encouragement as she paid for their packages. Harry continued his with his teasing when he winked and told Mildred that Ginny was 'using him for his galleons' but Ginny just smiled and said that she was not interested in his galleons only beating him at Quidditch. Mildred said she was overjoyed so see a young couple so in love and obviously excited about sharing a life together. Harry and Ginny purchased supplies for an herb garden and home apothecary. Ginny was very knowledgeable and spoke of how her mother had taught her to grow and preserve her own herbs as those were the best ones to use. _

_Well, we wish Harry and Ginny the best of luck and all the happiness in the world. We have already received thousands of letters asking us to interview the happy couple. We know that they value their privacy but do hope that they allow at least one opportunity to sit with them. Young witches all over Britain are dying to know what the beautiful Miss Weasley will be wearing on her wedding day as well as where and when the couple will be exchanging their vows. _

"Well that's not so bad," said Ginny. "I even like the picture," she said with a smile. "But I have a bad feeling that you have another magazine in that bag that I am not going to be too happy with."

Gabrielle tentatively pulled out the next magazine. "Now promise me you won't try to kill her, no matter how much she deserves it."

On the cover of Witch Weekly was a picture of Ginny going into a wizard children's store. The picture had a bright red arrow pointing to her stomach which looked distended. Next to it was a fierce picture of her father brandishing his wand at Harry. Each photo was grainy and had obviously been doctored to look a certain way.

_**Is Our Hero Being Forced to Marry at Wand Point? By Romilda Vane**_

_It was announced at Hogwarts on Monday that our beloved hero Harry Potter is engaged to the homely Hogwarts charms professor Ginevra Weasley. This reporter immediately wanted to find out why. With a little digging I was able to uncover that Professor Weasley is pregnant out of wedlock and of course the person she claims to be the father is non-other than our sainted hero Harry. Outraged, Weasley's father immediately confronted Harry and insisted he marry his only daughter and provide for the child. It is said that Miss Weasley even insisted on being given a precious Potter family heirloom, a rare set of Goblin made bridal bands. An unnamed source at a shop in Diagon Alley said that Miss Weasley already has possession of the key to Harry's vaults and has gone on several shopping sprees. It is a sad day indeed and we wish Harry the best of luck with the situation hoping that the true father of Professor Weasley's baby reveals himself soon. Once Harry's name has been cleared he will be free to find his one true love._

Neville spoke first, "We decided giving it to you in Muggle London was best, that way you wouldn't be able to pull your wand and hex anyone."

Harry looked anxiously at Ginny waiting for her to explode. He was doing his best to remain calm and not storm out to hunt down Romilda. If she were smart she would be in hiding. If he was angry there was no telling what the rest of the formidable Weasley family was feeling, especially Molly.

Ginny poured herself another glass of wine and downed it. "I'm ok," she said through gritted teeth. "I just need a moment to calm down."

"Love, I am sure everyone knows this is complete rubbish," said Harry as he took her hands in his feeling her tremble.

"I know, I know," she repeated. "I think maybe it would be best if Harry and I skip the film and take these over to my parent's house. I want to head this off before my mum has the chance to read it herself."

Neville and Gabrielle exchanged goodbyes with the couple promising to not to give away the ending to the movie.

As soon as they were in the alley Ginny hugged Harry and put her face in his chest, "Love, could you please aparate us there? I really think I would splinch myself if I tried."

Harry kissed her on the top of her head, "Sure thing," he said as he put his arms around her and turned on the spot.


	21. Part 2: Reactions

AN: Sorry I missed the last two updates. Life got in the way. Next chapter is ready and waiting to post.

They landed just outside the wards and started walking. Before they reached the path to the house Harry stopped and pulled Ginny into his arms.

"I know you are going to tell me I don't need to but I want to so please be patient and listen," he said. He pulled out his wand and conjured a bench for them to sit on. He turned to face her keeping their hands linked. "I know you are not pregnant and if you were it would be wonderful. I know we decided to wait a few years but if something does happen I would be as thrilled today as I will be two years from now. We would just have to be a bit more creative, which has never been a problem for us."

Ginny smiled and pulled him in for a hug, "Thank you. You are right I would have told you it wasn't necessary, but it was sweet just the same."

"You know we can't do anything directly to Romilda right?" he asked.

Ginny's smile grew. "What do you mean by directly?"

"Well, you just happen to be the youngest sister of the most renowned pranksters in the wizarding world. We probably wouldn't even have to say anything to them. A few well placed comments and some well meaning looks should do the trick. That way we keep our sparkling reputations clean and your brothers will no doubt get some amazing publicity. I have to think the public is on our side with this. I can't believe that they let her publish that. I mean she's always been far off the mark but that type of trash belongs in the Seeing Eye, not Witch Weekly. Who ever let her get away with that is probably going to be hung over a boiling cauldron for it."

"You my love are a brilliant man," she said as she pulled him in for a kiss. "No wonder I never stopped loving you."

Harry looked at her a bit surprised then sported a smug grin. "I knew you never stopped loving me. I just had to wear you down didn't I?"

"Yes, love. You wore me down," she said with a flowery sigh. She'd give it to him because he deserved it. She stood up and pulled him with her. "Keep the bench, I like it."

Harry's grin just grew, "I am the man," he said then strutted a bit for good measure.

"Oh yes," she said dramatically, "How could I have resisted such a virile stud like you. I didn't' have a chance. All you had to do was walk into a few trees and get molested by a few hundred cupids and I was yours." She had to say it because now he was being downright cocky.

Harry's face fell, "Ha ha. Come on let's go see your parents and try and explain this mess."

Before they even got to the door they heard Molly yelling. They stopped just outside of the reach of the porch light.

"That horrible cow!" yelled an irate Molly. "How dare she print such a thing about my Ginevra I mean if she really was with child I would be overjoyed as much as she and Harry would be but really to publish such a horrid thing with those ghastly photos I have a mind to sick Fred and George on her that will show her not to mess with the Weasley's I need to bake something love what do you want a pie that's what I thought I am in the mood for cherry I know they are just coming into season but I am sure I have some preserved in the cellar," she grabbed her wand and immediately twenty ingredients came flying onto her countertop.

Molly's face was flushed from saying all that without even taking a breath. Arthur got up and hugged her.

"Love," he said sweetly. Harry and Ginny had to strain to hear him. "Last time you baked like this you got yourself so worked up that you were in bed for the next afternoon." He paused and snuggled her under his chin. "Let's just go upstairs and you'll feel much better."

"Oh lovey, you do know me so well," she said with a sad sigh.

Through the window they could see Arthur leading Molly up the stairs to their bedroom. Ginny looked up at Harry.

"What is with the sour face?" he asked, "I think it is sweet that they are going to and take a little nap together."

"They are not going to take a nap," she said with a grimace. "Why else do you think there are seven of us?"

Harry's face was priceless, "Merlin's boxers really?" Then he smiled, "No wonder you can't keep your hands off me, it must be genetic or something. Though I have to admit you redheads are dead sexy when you're riled up about something."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on, let's go inside and I'll finish up the pies my mum started."

His face soured again, "You still want to go inside while their upstairs…not napping."

She patted his cheek, "Seven children remember. They perfected privacy wards ages ago."

"Let's put the wireless on and we are getting them a TV for Christmas. Every time they go upstairs together I am going to think they are… not napping. I'm going to need something to keep me from going over the bend."

She laughed as she tugged on his hand to pull him inside, "So Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia never?" she asked.

"Dudley was a miraculous conception. There is no other way to explain it." He cringed. "Petunia was much too sanitary and would most likely freak about the sheets getting mussed. She changed them every day as it was."

"No wonder she was so uptight, she needed a good shag." Ginny laughed at the mortified look on Harry's face.

"Let's go bake pies before I hurl. I don't want to loose my appetite."

"At least I got you to stop thinking about my parents," she said with a chuckle as she opened the door and immediately went over to the counter to start working.

An hour later Ginny was pulling her first pie out of the oven while Harry was working on the other crusts. He was covered in flour and was silently cursing at the stubborn dough that refused to lie correctly in the pan.

"I thought I smelled something delicious," said Arthur as he came down the stairs looking way too happy for Harry's liking. He went over and gave Ginny a kiss on the cheek. "Hello princess, mum will be down in a few minutes."

"I am sorry about the magazine dad, I know how much it must have upset mum," she said as she turned and hugged him.

"No worries, she just needed to fuss about it for a few minutes and now she is right as rain." H looked over to his future son in law, "Harry. It's good to see you. I hope that magazine didn't upset you too much. Though it's not the first time the press has gotten something wrong about you."

"I'm fine. I am more upset about how it's affecting Ginny. She shouldn't have to deal with this sort of trash. Romilda is just a jealous old hag that is obsessed with my image."

Just then Molly came down the stairs looking cheerful with a bit of a blush to her cheeks. Ginny smiled, yah it was a bit disturbing that her parents were still so 'active.' But how could you not be happy that after all these years and all the challenges they've had to deal with they were still so in love.

"Ginny dear you finished my pies. You are such a wonderful daughter," she said as she gave her a big kiss and a hug. "I am the luckiest woman in the world."

"We're lucky mum," she said as she hugged her mother back. Even as an adult her mother's hugs could settle her. It was like this tidal wave of love and caring that just set you right. Harry was amazing and nothing could match how he made her feel but she would always be grateful for her mother's love and affection.

Ginny looked at Harry then her parents, "I was thinking of sending a copy of Witch Weekly to Fred and George," she said while trying to look nonchalant.

Arthur smiled at his daughter, she may not be as flashy as the twins, but she still knew how to get the best of them. "I think that is a wonderful idea," he said. "Be sure to include a note asking them to send her their finest congratulations on such an insightful article."

"Dad, you are a brilliant man. I was wondering what would be the best thing to say. It was actually Harry that had come up with the original idea."

"Good man," said Arthur as he nodded to him. He had no doubts that Harry would take good care of his princess.

Molly looked down at the mess Harry had created and smiled, "Having a rough go of it?" she asked.

"I am better at cooking than baking," he said in frustration as he handed over his rolling pin.

"Well aren't you glad that our Ginny is so talented. I think her lemon meringue is better than mine. I can't get mine nearly as high or as golden brown as hers."

That was her clear sign that the conversation was over. She had dealt with the slanderous article and was confident her boys would fix the situation for her.

They spent the rest of the evening chatting and enjoying one of the pies that Ginny had finished.

The next day at lunch a note was delivered to Harry and Ginny by the twin's owl Mischief.

_**Dearest Ginny and Harry (the object of Romilda's obsession)**_

_**Thank you for the insightful magazine. As per your suggestion we sent a congratulatory package to Romilda.**_

_**Did we mention that we have a new mate who is one of the editors for Witch Weekly? After Romilda's last article we invited Harold out for a beer and had an interesting chat. It seems Miss Vane has been "spitting in the potion" for a while now and her mother is the only reason she still has a job. Rumor has it that Romilda slipped the printer a love potion and was able to get her article printed without it going past the editor's desk. I wonder if she went the chocolate route again? Some people are so predictable.**_

_**Please be assured that Miss Vane will be looking for new employment soon. Out of consideration our new mate is going to wait until Miss Vane has opened our package before he delivers the good news. Harold has an excellent sense of humor!**_

_**Of course we also arranged for some advertising at an amazingly great price. Couldn't let such a fine opportunity go to waste could we?**_

_**Your loving and brilliantly creative brothers,**_

_**Gred and Forge**_

"I really love them," she said with a sigh. "I just wish I could be there when the package arrives."

"I am sure we will hear about it," said Harry over his coffee cup trying hard not to laugh.

Ginny looked at him and took a deep breath, "I know you have been against it, but what would you think about granting Teen Witch an interview?"

"Ginny…" he started.

"Please just hear me out," she asked. "It would be on our terms and we would have the final say as to what was printed. I just want to get something out there to counteract that beastly article. I know everyone will think it is rubbish but I still want to make things clear."

"Let me think about it," he said with a frown. He hadn't done an interview since the end of the war and he really didn't want to give another, but he had to consider Ginny's feelings.

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking wedding plans. Well, Ginny talked Harry commented. By dinner they had enough to give to her mum. The only thing left were the dresses and Ginny and Hermione would deal with that later.

The biggest decision had been the date. They wanted to be married sooner rather than later. There was no reason to take a full year to plan the wedding, they were adults and knew what they wanted. Plus it was already the middle of June and final exams were next week. If they wanted to enjoy a carefree honeymoon they needed to be married in late June, July or early August. If they didn't do it within the next few months they would have to wait until next summer and that was just too far away.


End file.
